Digging for clues
Police continue to investigate 1981 disappearance of Helen Dymond
State troopers sift through soil unearthed at one of the sites identified as a potential dig site by a drone. (Journal photo by Annie Lippert)
Stakes mark each potential anomaly site, while smaller flags mark places where the metal detector went off. (Journal photo by Annie Lippert)
DYMOND
State troopers sift through soil unearthed at one of the sites identified as a potential dig site by a drone. (Journal photo by Annie Lippert)
Stakes mark each potential anomaly site, while smaller flags mark places where the metal detector went off. (Journal photo by Annie Lippert)
DYMOND
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NEGAUNEE -- Helen Dymond went missing in 1981 after leaving a party at the Tilden Township Club to walk home. Dymond has not been seen since, and the police never made an arrest in relation to the case. 45 years later, both community members and police continue to search for Dymond. Recently, the father of a property owner in Negaunee has called for police to search on his son's land.
"When I was a kid I knew the people up here," said the property owner's father, who wished to remain anonymous, speaking about the property in question. "I used to hang around with their kids, and we were always back in the woods."
At that time, "back in the woods" was owned by Cleveland Cliffs, but the property is now in the family.
"When (Dymond) came up missing ... there was a dug up area down there," said the property owner's father. "And I've always remembered it. And then all these years later, when we bought the property, we walked all through here. And because I know the area, I went by and said: 'I'll go to my grave believing Helen's buried right there.'"
The property owner's father said that at the time one of the holes was explained away by one of the neighbors who said that they had dug it as a grave for a horse that died, but he doesn't remember any of the neighbors having horses.
Now that the property is in the family, he and a friend with access to a backhoe have spent the last few years intermittently looking for Dymond on the property.
"We've done it several times, and when we do it the state police are always invited," said the property owner's father. "Because obviously, if anything shows up, it turns into a crime scene, and we want witnesses."
On Friday, two state police officers were witness to the digging, including K.P. Carlson, who works specifically with cold cases.
The property owner and a friend of the family have been using ground-penetrating drone technology to look for anomalies in the ground, and have been staking out whatever they find, with smaller flags for any anomalies that also registered on the metal detectors.
Carlson said that it was unlikely, though, that Dymond herself would be found, even if she had been buried on the property, as it had been so long and the sandy soil is so acidic. Instead, troopers and participants looked for teeth, zippers and jewelry.
"This is a longshot," the property owner's father admitted, watching the backhoe work. As the backhoe unearthed swaths of sand, the troopers would sift through it using special tools.
While the Mining Journal was present, the team found one nail and part of an old, rusty can. The property owner's father said that one of the theories back in the day was that someone had hit Dymond while drunk driving, so he was especially interested in the can.
When Carlson was asked how often tips come up in old cold cases like this one, he said "It depends ... It's hard to say. Northern's cold case program looked at it, so they developed some leads. But it varies."
The property owner and his father are prepared to keep looking. Dymond has been lost for 45 years, but her community has not given up on finding her.
Annie Lippert can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 550. Her email address is alippert@miningjournal.net.