As Mires taps it with her trowel, it seems hollow. Carefully, she removes more dirt. A hush falls over the assembled group. The color drains from Melanie's face. She feels sick.
Mires takes a soil sample to test for human remains.
Further digging reveals a tag of clothing, several .22-caliber shells, a piece of old metal, charcoal, a bit of fabric, and broken beer bottles from the 1970s. But there are no bones. The coffin-shaped wood just seems to be residue from an old fire pit filled with refuse. Mires notes that in other criminal cases, perpetrators have buried victims in garbage pits. The garbage masks the smell of the body and discourages passersby from examining the contents.