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Excavation Turns Up No Trace Of Missing Woman

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By MIKE WELLS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 24, 2008

TAMPA - "They found nothing."

That's what a homeowner wrote on a sign in front of an empty South Tampa house where Temple Terrace police have ripped up floors in hopes of solving the disappearance of Sandra Hamby Prince.

The Temple Terrace Police Department executed a search warrant at 3908 W. Vasconia St. on Jan. 10 and stopped the examination Tuesday, department spokesman Michael Dunn said.

Though no human remains were found in the search, new investigative leads have been developed during the execution of the search warrant and are being pursued by detectives, Dunn said. He would not elaborate on the nature of those leads.

"It's going to continue," Dunn said. "This is by no means an end to what happened."

Police aren't just looking for remains, but any chemical indicators that could tell investigators if a body had been there, said an anthropology expert working on the case.

Temple Terrace detectives, with the assistance of Tampa police, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the University of South Florida's anthropology department, conducted an exhaustive search of the area under the foundation of the residence.

"A lot of flooring was removed, a staircase was removed, and a kitchen bar," Dunn said.

The search warrant was sealed, so its details are not available. Dunn said the home will be restored at no cost to the owners, Timothy and Maite McLeod.

Prince lived at 11507 Moffat Place, Temple Terrace. She was reported missing on Jan. 3, 2006. She was 59. Detectives found her blood in the trunk of her car, which someone drove for two days before she was reported missing, and in her garage and bedroom.

At the time of her disappearance, the Vasconia Street home was being built by contractor Earl Pippin III, her boyfriend. Pippin had a five-year relationship with Prince and is the sole beneficiary of her $3.6 million estate, police said.

From the start of the investigation, police have focused on Pippin. He was married when he had the relationship with Prince. A concrete slab was poured for the Vasconia home about the time of her disappearance.

On Nov. 17, 2006, a vase with a yellow ribbon was found at the Vasconia Street house. A leaf inside was from a Ti plant, which is in abundance at Prince's home. Pippin's fingerprint was found on the vase.

The vase did not belong to Prince, police said.

Pippin's attorney, Paul Sisco, said the absence of remains was expected.

"I'm not at all surprised by this," he said. "It's not a cause for celebration; it's something we've known all along."

Police obtained the search warrant based on reasonable suspicion that human remains were buried under the foundation of the residence, Sisco said.

This was investigators' second search of the property. Last year, police excavated much of the backyard. They collected soil samples but have not released results.

Christian Wells, an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of South Florida, analyzed the soil samples and said he participated in work at the site.

Wells declined to talk about his part in the investigation but offered explanations for what investigators search for to find evidence of human remains.

"In these kinds of cases we do prospective searches - or prospecting for burials and remains," Wells said.

A systematic sampling of the soil is taken at consistent intervals, and investigators look for chemical anomalies that would indicate human remains, he said.

"Organic material would give off phosphates, fatty acids, proteins," Wells said. "It would alter the soil and make it more acidic."

With Florida's warm and humid climate, a corpse left on the surface of the ground would deteriorate rapidly, and yet one buried under the surface could decompose even more rapidly if it were in acidic or moist soil, Wells said.

"By two years, there could be nothing left but bones," he said.

Even if no human remains become visible at a location, scientists can still detect if any remains ever were there because of the chemical signature it leaves on the soil, Wells said.

There is an $80,000 reward for information leading to the whereabouts of Prince. Anyone with information should contact Temple Terrace police Detective Michael Pridemore at (813) 989-7118.

Reporter Mike Wells can be reached at (813) 259-7839 or mwells@tampatrib.com.

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