Iowa cops scrap search for human remains on property where woman claims her ... trends now
Authorities in Iowa have called off the search for human remains after no evidence was found in a three-day excavation of a property where a woman claimed her father dumped more than 70 women's bodies.
Lucy Studey McKiddy, 53, told the Fremont County Sheriff's Office in 2007 her father, Donald Dean Studey, was a serial killer who forced her and her siblings to dispose the corpses of the women he killed.
A recent tip prompted local, state and federal officials to conduct a search of the rural Studey property near Thurman, in which cadaver dogs alerted at multiple locations of possible human remains back in October.
But after spending three days excavating the areas, and 'exhaustive efforts' to collect and examine soil samples, no evidence or other items of concern were found, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation announced on Thursday.
Authorities searched the property of Donald Studey, who died in 2013, after his daughter claimed that he murdered at least 70 women. They found no evidence to support her claims
Lucy Studey McKiddy, 53, told the Fremont County Sheriff's Office in 2007 that her father was a serial killer who forced her and her siblings to dispose the bodies of the women he killed
The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the lead agency on the case, issued a brief statement Thursday. The agency was assisted by the FBI and the Fremont County Sheriff's Department.
'Over the past three days, state, local, and federal law enforcement assisted with an investigation in Fremont County,' the statement read. 'Authorities brought in an array of experts representing several disciplines and significant assets to excavate, collect and examine soil samples from a site identified by a reporting party. After exhaustive efforts, no evidence or other items of concern were recovered.
'Law enforcement agencies coordinating this effort included the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Division of Criminal Investigation and the Fremont County Sheriff's Office.
Lucy Studey McKiddy has pushed for an investigation into her claims for 45 years.
She said that Studey, who died in March 2013 at the age of 75, was 'routinely drunk' and liked to kill women by smashing or kicking in their heads inside a trailer.
McKiddy visited the site with officials back in 2021 to show them where her father allegedly dumped bodies. McKiddy and her three siblings were allegedly told to pour lye and dirt on top of the suspected graves, she claimed.
McKiddy stayed at her home in Florida during the most recent search, but reportedly told Newsweek: 'I hope that the authorities dig in the right locations and find all the bodies.'
Cadaver dogs alerted at least four spots on the property, with the last getting multiple 'hits' in the area surrounding one of the wells.
McKiddy said the right well to search was actually the dry well, not the wet well. But the dry well, according to a witness, was never searched Tuesday and Wednesday.
'I now understand how my dad got away with it, and why it's been 45 years of disappointment from authorities,' she said. 'I'm not giving up. I'm getting those bodies out of the ground.'
McKiddy has been accused of giving 'conflicting
