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Team Searches Under House For Body

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By VALERIE KALFRIN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 19, 2007

TAMPA - People renting a South Tampa house where investigators are excavating the yard for evidence in a woman's disappearance opted to remain there while workers dig under the building, police said Thursday.

Temple Terrace police obtained a search warrant Wednesday for the house at 3908 W. Vasconia St. in connection with the disappearance of Sandra Hamby Prince.

Prince, who lived in Temple Terrace, was a drug counselor who helped found the Agency on Community Treatment Services in Tampa in 1978. She was 59 when she was reported missing Jan. 3, 2006.
Police spokesman Mike Dunn said investigators had offered the renters accommodations at a hotel, but they had declined.

The phone number at the house is unlisted. A woman pulling out of the driveway moved the crime-scene tape to accommodate her vehicle but did not speak to reporters.

Meanwhile, people who knew Prince said the search causes mixed emotions.

'At first, it was like Christmas and you think this is wonderful, but seconds later there was a complete letdown when I learned nothing has been found yet,' said friend Susan Horton of Venice. 'I really still have hope she'll be found sitting on the beach somewhere. I'm just so glad to know the police are continuing with the investigation. It's just so important to keep her name out there.'

Julie Reynolds, an attorney and spokeswoman for ACTS, said Prince's co-workers hope police find what they need to close the case and prosecute whoever is responsible.

'The whole thing was just very sad and shocking. So every time something like this comes up, it just brings back those same feelings,' Reynolds said of the search.

William Bowles, a former neighbor of Prince's in Temple Terrace, said he has no hope Prince will be found alive but hopes her body will be found so she 'can have a proper burial.'

Another former neighbor, Ann Givens, added, 'The whole neighborhood has been saying prayers to help the police find her.'

The house was constructed by Prince's longtime boyfriend, Earl C. Pippin III, about the time she vanished, according to a Tampa building permit. His attorney says Pippin has no involvement in her disappearance.

USF Helping Investigation

Investigators and workers from ATI Drilling of Tampa expect to dig under the house at least through this afternoon and perhaps through the weekend, Dunn said. The workers were collecting soil samples for analysis by USF and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

The digging will not continue past 6 p.m., so as not to disturb neighbors, Dunn said. 'We do plan to restore the house to its original condition,' he said.

Local forensic anthropologists such as Erin Kimmerle, a University of South Florida anthropology professor, are assisting police. Kimmerle last helped law enforcement in September with the excavation of a missing Seffner woman's remains at a construction site.

Kimmerle could not comment on specifics of the search but said in general she sets up a grid and methodically searches an entire area, looking for signs that soil has been disturbed or for changes in its chemical composition, such as its acidity. 'Either we find what we're looking for or we feel pretty confident in ruling it out. But nothing is 100 percent,' she said.

Dunn said police have fielded 142 tips in their investigation since Prince vanished. They have searched the Vasconia Street property previously with ground-penetrating radar and cadaver-detecting dogs, without finding any remains, he said. They also have searched property Pippin co-owned with Prince at Lake Panasoffkee in Sumter County with dogs and radar, he said. Police divers have searched the lake, he said.

Dunn would not say whether a specific tip led to the search warrant in South Tampa. 'Each one kind of builds on the other,' he said.

Police Counter Lawyer's Remarks

Pippin's attorney, Paul Sisco, questioned whether there was a search warrant, and that implies there's probable cause.

Dunn countered, saying that was 'utter nonsense,' that there was a warrant signed a by circuit judge.

Wednesday, Sisco said Pippin had passed a polygraph test regarding Prince's disappearance.

Thursday, Dunn said that test was not administered by police. Pippin has declined to take a police polygraph or cooperate with police since March 2006, Dunn said.

Pippin took a polygraph at his lawyer's office Jan. 3. The test was done by Richard Keifer, former head of the FBI's polygraph unit.

Keifer signed off, stating Pippin had passed the polygraph exam that had him state whether he was responsible for Prince's death or disappearance, or conspired with anyone else to kill her.

Sisco also said that Pippin is not the sole beneficiary of Prince's will as authorities have reported. Dunn said Prince and her mother were joined legally in some matters. Prince had funds and property on her own and she bequeathed it to Pippin, Dunn said.

Tribune reporters Chris Echegaray and Joyce McKenzie and News Channel 8 reporter Samara Sodos contributed to this report. Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800 or vkalfrin@tampatrib.com.

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