Crime scene technicians who specialize in recovering skeletal remains finished their search Friday of a wooded area in Cass County where two sets of human remains were found earlier in the week.
On Friday there were about 40 people digging in the ground by hand.
"These crime scene technicians, these forensics people, this is what they do every day. This is their specialty. We have resources at the county, but we don't have everything we need. They come out here to help us, that's what we do as law enforcement," explained Capt. Kevin Tieman with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office.
The search was narrowed down to a 2 acre area.
According to Tieman, authorities had collected “several pieces of evidence.” Tieman would not offer any specifics but said he was hopeful the search will help identify one of the sets of remains found Monday.
“Not only hopeful of identifying that person but providing the evidence all of the agencies involved in this case need to have some sort of successful prosecution on whoever is responsible for these people being out here,” he said.
One set of remains has been identified as those of Jessica Runions, who disappeared last September.
The 21-year-old was last seen leaving a south Kansas City party with Kylr Yust, who has since been charged with burning her car. Yust has been questioned in the disappearance of Kara Kopetsky, who went missing in 2007. He has never been named a suspect in that case.
Earlier this week, Kopetsky’s mom said she believes in her “heart of hearts” the second set of remains belongs to Kara.
Investigators with the Kansas City Police Department, Belton, Raymore, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the FBI assisted Cass County with the search.
According to Tieman, some investigators may come back to the search area Saturday to finalize their work. The scene and surrounding area will remain closed throughout the weekend.
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