Valley disquieted by gruesome discovery

GARFIELD — A runner enjoying the sunny, spring-like weather last Wednesday on Sugar Creek Road gave a friendly wave in passing. Seasons were changing and new life appeared to be just around the corner. But, in reality, just around the corner on this dirt road was death.

The runner was forced to turn around when he met Benton County Deputy Clifford Burton who manned the road block at the scene of law enforcement authorities unearthing a shallow grave in which two bodies lay.

The constant hum of the generator dispelled the serenity of the valley, but was necessary as three law-enforcement agencies worked together to uncover the remains of two human bodies dumped in a shallow grave.

The breeze rustled the fallen leaves in the valley disturbing the tarps surrounding the excavation site, not 10 feet from the public road. Unruly yellow tape, cordoning off the burial site, broke free from the saplings to which it was tied.

Across from the approximately 15 feet by 15 feet dig site, a once-peaceful field became a command post covered by more than a dozen vehicles, including a Sheriff’s Office trailer on loan for the investigation. The road, on which were parked more lawenforcement vehicles, was closed as workers moved back and forth from tarps to evidence trailer.

Officers remained at the site around the clock, obvious by the generator noise, food-stocked trailer and portable toilets.

Around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 16, Bentonville police officers obtained a search warrant for a house and 6.3 acres of woods along Sugar Creek Road. A grid search by officers from Bentonville Police and the BentonCounty Sheriff’s Office, including the use of a cadaver dog, failed to discover the burial site. When further information was gained through a source, a second warrant was obtained, to widen thesearch area by just a few feet.

“We need to maintain custody of the premises,” Detective Lieutenant Jon Simpson, Bentonville Criminal Investigation Department, said. Once the scene isvacated by authorities, they may not return.

Simpson likened the investigation to an archaeological dig.

The Bentonville Police Department crime scene truck carried tools and supplies, everything “from ladders to socket sets, including chainsaws we used to clear some trees,” Simpson said.

Another truck sat with one door half open, containing materials needed by the FBI and a place out of the weather to package evidence.

A white box trailer was a mobile evidence locker.

The crew worked to excavate the entire site, marked it with a GPS location and put one-half inch rods in the ground when the site was covered up.

As work progressed, the team ended their dig Thursday afternoon, earlier than anticipated.

“We will return to the area depending on what we find,” Simpson said, adding that some of the missing women’s belongings were found on other side of the hilltop during the initial search Tuesday morning.

“This is a totally natural environment ... we were looking for anything unnatural, anything manmade ... anarea of depression or raised ground,” Simpson said.

A special probe was used to determine whether dirt had been recently moved.

The problem with this case is nothing is recent. The two women were last seen in June 2009.

“There was a lot of confusion early on, a lot of time passed,” Simpson said.

Simpson said since the recovery of the bodies, a few people have called Bentonville police concerned for their safety, mostly those around the same age as the older woman found. Louise Johansen was 81 when she died.

“There is no indicator that this is someone roaming around committing these acts,” Simpson said, adding this seems to be caused byfamily issues.

“The motive here appears to be a common human behavior ... it’s hard to eliminate that,” Simpson said.

The Bentonville Police Department had assistance from multiple agencies, including the City of Bentonville, the Benton County Prosecutor’s Office and cadaver sniffing dogs out of Lavaca, Ark.

“We knew we could count on (the Sheriff’s Office), but we never thought they would offer assistance like they did ... they had us outnumbered,” Simpson said.