Wednesday, July 19, 2006
A blanket of protection 

BY BRIAN CALLAHAN The Telegram

BY BRIAN CALLAHAN

The Telegram

It appears bones unearthed near Windsor Lake will remain protected from the elements and untouched until the province’s chief medical examiner returns to the province Friday.

Police investigators, erring on the side of caution, have set up camp in an area about three kilometres north of Thorburn Road, where the bones — believed to be human remains — were dug up by searchers Sunday morning.

A helicopter tour of the site Tuesday revealed a small clearing — which appears to have been widened in recent days — with sections divided by police tape, as well as several large tents and portable toilets.

Officers were led to the outlying area Friday in connection with the highly publicized 13-year-old disappearance of Dale Worthman, 30, and his girlfriend, Kim Lockyer, 29.

They vanished from their basement apartment on Dogberry Hill Road Ext. in St. Philip’s — about five kilometres from the dig site — on Aug. 27, 1993.

Investigators have long suspected foul play, and the possibility it was a hit involving organized crime.

There are backups when chief medical examiner Dr. Simon Avis is away. But it’s believed the RNC is taking no chances, given the magnitude of the find and his knowledge of the case.

An expert from MUN’s anthropology department will also be called on, but not until Avis makes the call.

“Basically, my contact is the medical examiner. And the medical examiner isn’t in town right now,” said Dr. Sonya Jerkic, an expert in forensic anthropology.

“I’ve been contacted, but I won’t be having anything to do … I won’t even see what’s going on until the end of the week.

“Consequently, I don’t know anything or any more than what’s in the media.”

Meanwhile, a Royal Newfoundland Constabulary forensics team, armed with metal detectors, continued to scour the area around the bones Tuesday.

A source told The Telegram they may have found a weapon — namely a gun — but that was not confirmed.

“Not to the best of my knowledge,” RNC Acting Insp. June Layden told The Telegram.

She was asked if there was any way of knowing if, indeed, a gun had been found.

“As to exactly what’s been uncovered there, we’re not going to comment. And to be quite honest with you, we wouldn’t comment on it. This is an ongoing investigation.

“But in this case, as I said, to the best of my knowledge we have not located any weapon.”

In fact, Layden wouldn’t say who was at the site Tuesday.

“We won’t comment on who’s on site. As (RNC Chief Joe Browne) said (Monday), our primary focus at this time is security and protection of the site and that’s what’s ongoing,” she said.

Browne, meanwhile, has said the “painstaking” work of identifying the remains would take weeks or months to complete.

If they do belong to Worthman and Lockyer, police will be faced with the arduous task of piecing together the crime more than a decade later.

In Tuesday’s Telegram, Layden said it’s “premature” to discuss suspects or arrests until the bones are positively identified.

“I wouldn’t comment on that at this point,” she said.

bcallahan@thetelegram