July 5, 2009
Digging ends in search for teen thought murdered
In an operation involving Los Angeles Police Dept. officers, and dozens of FBI agents and police from other agencies Monday, Oct. 6, 2008, in Moorpark, Calif., authorities excavate near two freeway ramps in Ventura County for the possible remains of a 16-year-old San Fernando Valley boy killed by a serial murderer 40 years ago. This interchange of the 23 Freeway at Tierra Rejada Road is about 25 miles west of the Arleta home where Roger Dale Madison was last seen alive on Dec. 14, 1968. A poster of some of the victims is seen at right. (AP Photo/Ric Francis) By THOMAS WATKINS, Associated Press
MOORPARK, Calif. (AP) - Safety concerns forced authorities to stop digging Friday at a freeway site where they suspect the body of a 16-year-old boy was buried 40 years ago by a serial killer.
A chaplain held a service at the Ventura County spot where police had searched for the remains of Roger Dale Madison since Monday. Madison's sister, Sherry Barlow, and his niece placed flowers at the scene. Barlow, 50, said making the trip from her home in Oklahoma provided an opportunity for closure. "It has given me a chance to say goodbye to my brother," she said while thanking volunteers. "I know he's there, and I understand why they can't dig any further." Barlow also collected a small amount of dirt to place with the ashes of her deceased mother and father. Los Angeles police still suspect the body lies along the 23 Freeway but cannot be recovered because safety concerns limit digging to 25 feet. A particle detector confirmed the presence of human bones beneath the site. Mack Ray Edwards, a serial killer linked to as many as 18 kidnappings and murders, confessed in 1970 that Madison was one of his victims. He claimed he buried the boy where he worked as a heavy equipment operator during the California freeway building boom. Edwards hung himself in 1971 while on death row at San Quentin prison. It's not clear why detectives did not look into Edwards' confession earlier, because police archivists can't find records of the investigation. The case was revived when a writer looking into a 1957 missing child case noticed similarities with the Madison case. Los Angeles police found a retired Caltrans engineer who supervised Edwards and knew where he was working in December 1968, the last month Madison was seen alive. The family provided DNA swabs to be compared with any human remains that might have been found. |
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