Source: Police search for body of girl missing since 1979 in Macomb Township
MACOMB TWP, Mich. (WJBK) - Several law enforcement agencies are searching a Macomb Township property for clues related to Kimberly King, a girl who was 12 when she went missing in 1979, according to police sources.
The Warren Police Department was the lead agency on the search in Macomb Township, which included crews using a backhoe, shovels and more to dig through the property just south of 23 Mile near North Avenue.
According to sources, they're searching for the body of Kimberly King, a girl who went missing from Warren when she was 12 in 1979. Sources also say other bodies may be in the field as well.
“That doesn’t make you feel very good about any tragedy like that if there’s any unfortunate thing that happened there,” said nearby property owner Ron Dehondt, who's very familiar with the property and its past.
“There was a family who lived there but they’ve been out of there at least 20 something years. The front part was farm up until few years ago; the back part is open but I think it’s not being developed right now. There’s a river that runs through it, the north branch of the Clinton River.”
Sources say information on the case of 12-year-old King prompted investigators to go to the property.
In that same area, the remains of a 13-year-old girl, Cindy Zarzycki, were found in 2008 after convicted child killer Arthur Nelson Ream led police to that spot.
Ream was convicted in the murder Zarzycki, who went missing in April 1986 after agreeing to meet Ream at a Dairy Queen in Eastpointe.
In the 19 years since Zarzycki went missing, Ream had been convicted of raping a 15-year-old girl. He led investigators to the field where they found Zarzycki's body in a shallow grave.
Ream was convicted of her death in June 2008 and is currently serving a life sentence.
FOX 2 spoke to some of Ream's former neighbors, who remember someone far from a convicted child killer.
"Typical single father with two boys," said Chuck Corbin.
"Out there mowing his lawn, fixing his porch. That what we do; my dad did block and brick work for a living, but he insisted on doing his own work," Harold Burgett said.
Hearing Ream's name being possibly connected to more bodies buried on this property, they say, is just as surprising as it was 10 years ago.
But for some, it doesn't quite add up. According to Michigan Department of Corrections, Ream was serving time, convicted of molesting a child at the time of King's disappearance. Released from prison in February of 1980, King disappeared in September of 1979.
FOX 2 also learned that Ream's ex-wife spent some time with investigators at the search site Monday, but authorities didn't elaborate on why she was there.
Sources say it’s not only information on King’s disappearance that they are looking for, but that the vacant property could be serving as a gruesome grave site for multiple bodies.
“That will be a surprise a unfortunate certainly for any victims found,” Dehondt said.
Authorities began their search again Tuesday morning.
Meanwhile, a boil water advisory is in effect after a water main break for those living in the area, on 23 Mile Road between North Avenue and the eastern township border. That includes all residents of Pinnacle Woods subdivision.
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This is a developing story. Stay with FOX 2 for updates.