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Digging to resume today in 1968 case
Teen's remains believed at site
Video: Digging up an old case
Authorities excavate an area in Moorpark along Hwy 23, where the body of a murdered boy was believed to be buried 40 years ago.
Watch now »
Authorities decide to end a week long dig in an area in Moorpark along Hwy 23, where the body of a murdered boy was believed to be buried 40 years ago.
Watch now »
Photo by Jason Redmond
Mammoth Lakes Police Sgt. Paul Dostie, left, and forensic pathologist Dan Larson of CSU Long Beach inspect layers of dirt as they look for remains at the site off Highway 23 in Moorpark.
Photo by Jason Redmond
A member of the FBI's Evidence Response Team uses surveying equipment. More than 100 personnel are working at the site.
Hwy. 23 detours
The California Department of Transportation has closed the southbound Highway 23 onramp and offramp at Tierra Rejada Road for the next 10 days. The agency recommends the following detours:
- Traveling west on Highway 118, exit at Madera Road south and continue to Tierra Rejada Road.
- Traveling south on Highway 23, exit at Olsen Road, then re-enter the freeway toward northbound Highway 23 to exit at Tierra Rejada Road.
- Traveling south on Highway 23, exit at Sunset Hills Boulevard, then re-enter the freeway toward northbound Highway 23 to exit at Tierra Rejada Road.
- Traveling west on Tierra Rejada Road, turn right on Spring Road. Continue north on Spring Road to enter eastbound Highway 118, then connect to southbound Highway 23.
RELATED STORIES
- Dig will not recover body
- Digging for boy's remains is stopped
- Digging begins on Highway 23 for body from murder 40 years ago
STORY TOOLS
More from County News
Investigators were set to resume working for a second day today in Moorpark to find and excavate the remains of a teenager believed buried 40 years ago by a serial killer.
A Caltrans front-end loader began scraping dirt midmorning Monday as more than 100 law enforcement personnel began work at the site.
The dig, on the northwest side of the interchange of Highway 23 and Tierra Rejada Road, will give Los Angeles police an opportunity to bring closure to the family of 16-year-old Roger Dale Madison, detectives said at a news conference at the site.
Police thanked Ventura County residents for putting up with the inconveniences caused by closure of the freeway's southbound exit at Tierra Rejada and the curving on-ramp from westbound Tierra Rejada to the southbound freeway.
The two ramps are expected to remain closed for most of this week.
"It's well worth it," said Los Angeles Police Capt. Jim Miller, who is heading the investigation. "I think everybody can see the importance of doing this."
LAPD Detective Vivian Flores, who has been working on the case for three years, said she talked to the missing teen's family Sunday.
"To have a child and to not know where he is for 40 years, it's heart-wrenching for them," Flores said.
The youth was murdered in an orange grove in the north San Fernando Valley on Dec. 16, 1968, according to a confession from serial killer Mack Ray Edwards.
In his confession, which languished in LAPD files for more than three decades, Edwards also said he returned to the orange grove near Balboa Boulevard and the Golden State Freeway the day after the killing and took the boy's body to the Highway 23 construction site, where he headed a bulldozer crew working for a private contractor.
LAPD detectives cannot say why a search for Madison's body was not conducted after Edwards' confession in 1970 because those records from the investigation cannot be located.
Edwards confessed to several murders and committed suicide on Death Row at San Quentin prison in 1971.
A Pasadena author, Weston DeWalt, sparked interest in the case as he uncovered evidence of Edwards' guilt in 18 to 20 murders stretching across Los Angeles County and dating as far back as 1953. Because Edwards was implicated in killing as many as 20 children, authorities say it is possible that a different victim's remains may be found in Moorpark.
If any human remains are found, Ventura County sheriff's homicide detectives will have jurisdiction at least until the victim is identified. If they are the remains of the missing teen or another victim, jurisdiction will be turned over to the LAPD, officials said.
"We may not find Roger's remains. We may find someone else's, and we may not find anyone at all," Miller said.
On Monday, mobile crime scene command post trailers, large tents and two dozen television trucks surrounded the dig site.
A canopy was set up over a row of screens, plastic tubs and tables where 40 forensic specialists from the FBI sifted excavated soil. "We found a couple of things that we thought were interesting, including possibly a tooth," Flores said.
Dan Larson, a forensic pathologist from Cal State Long Beach, examined the object and said it was not human.
The LAPD was feeding live pictures to the Internet via its Web site, http://www.lapdonline.org.
The dig is within sight of houses in a gated subdivision west of the interchange. Residents said they had been unaware of the months of preliminary police work at the location, including the use of dogs and ground-penetrating radar.
Posted by alloyz25 on October 7, 2008 at 7:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)
waste of time and money. They won't find anything. This is nothing more than a media circus.
Posted by joanna on October 7, 2008 at 8:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Alloyz25 - I totally agree, this has got to cost upwards of a half million dollars - the prep time now the dig for some crime this old - they should give $10,000 each to the 500 families in Ventura County closest to foreclosure - and do some useful with the money instead!
Posted by oxnard40 on October 7, 2008 at 8:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Let the bodies rest in peace. It has been 40 years. I would assume the families would have had closure many years ago. How many of these family members are still alive today? People are losing their homes, gas prices are high, the stock market is crashing hard, but we need to bring closure to a missing body case from 40 years ago.
Posted by whatevers on October 7, 2008 at 9:07 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Wow??
Oxnard 40-
"How many of these family members are still alive today??"
Well this young boy would have now been 56 that is fairly young, same age as my father, my dad still has all of his brothers and sisters, all 12 of them, so this kid most likely still has his as well.
"You would assume families would have had closure?" "assume" is probably the only right thing in your comment.
Have you ever lost a brother or a son? If so you would realize that most families never find closure especially when it was a murder like this. They will always ask why and always wonder what there little or older brother would have been like as a grown up.
I know that if that were my brother or relative I would want them to dig, I would want to take his remains and put them in a place where I could go and take flowers, say a prayer and thank God for letting these wonderful people help me finally find him.
JOanna - give money to those closest to foreclosure? Are you serious, you want people that were not responsible enough to get more freebies? No! Those people need to realize that having a home is a privilage not something you deserve.
I agree some were lied into loans, but at the end of the day they knew what the mortgage was going to be like and it wasn't cheap, they knew they may not afford it and still got themselves in this mess.
Gas prices high? I agree but not as high as they were, actually its cheaper, just a few months ago, I paid 5.00 a gallon, where today at Costco I paid 3.61 still high but not that much.
Posted by joanna on October 7, 2008 at 9:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
GramMars,
I personally don't believe there is anything after you die, but even if you are a Christian - the soul of this child is long gone - why anyone care about what happens to the shell after we are gone I can not understand - but after 40 years....
I am sure even the most religious people have come to terms with this.
So no, if it was my family I would forget it, in fact there is every chance my mother was a victim of a very prolfic serial killer in England, a Dr Shipman - so I know for a fact I don't care.
Posted by hisgrl on October 7, 2008 at 9:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I may have missed something, but why are they barley digging him up now when he confessed so many years ago, and said where the body was located?
Posted by Anita_Corona on October 7, 2008 at 9:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Wow Joanna, what does foreclosures have to do with this article??? Ever had a family member gone missing? Not know where he/she is? when you do experience this then come and tell us what your price is to bring a closure to the nightmare.
Posted by hisgrl on October 7, 2008 at 9:16 a.m. (Suggest removal)
joanna I Would hate to be related to you, heartless I tell you!
Posted by Amazon on October 7, 2008 at 9:24 a.m. (Suggest removal)
"whatevers", good post! I agree!
If anything, the remains of someone dead should be respected and be properly buried. Not left next to or under some freeway.
Joanna, I think even a Christian wouldn't want their relative lying on the side of a road. And who knows what religion they are---Many beliefs look at people's remains as sacred. I honestly don't want the Moorpark onramp to be a sacred burial ground, so lets move the boy to a proper place.
Posted by oxnard40 on October 7, 2008 at 9:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Who is putting up the money for the digging of the freeways? The family? I don't think so. The reason why these bodies were not uncovered 30+ years ago was the fact that the state did not want to put the money out for cold cases. This whole dig sounds like a Geraldo story. It might not even be the 16 year old they are looking for.
"We may not find Roger's remains. We may find someone else's, and we may not find anyone at all," Miller said.
Then what?
Posted by whatevers on October 7, 2008 at 9:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)
JOanna - "in fact there is every chance my mother was a victim of a very prolfic serial killer in England, a Dr Shipman - so I know for a fact I don't care".
Did you get to bury your mom? If you ever felt the need or want to go take flowers to her grave, you would know exactly where to take them, these people didn't for 40 years!
I am very sorry about your loss, but a couple of your words, did lift one of my eyebrows. "so I know for a fact I don't care".
You don't care? Really?
You know, I have a 15 year old daughter, and when she goes out with friends, she leaves with a smile and says "I'll be back mom", or "bye mom". She is a cheerleader and during her away games she constantly texts me to keep me posted, then she asks, "do you miss me?" it's comforting to hear her, or read her texts, but when she isn't in that door at the time she said she was going to be back, my heart goes in to panic mode, minutes later, she walks in with that same smile she left with and stories to tell me about her little venture.
As any mother, my worst fear is to lose any of my kids.
Let me tell you.. if that were my son, I know I would have spent the rest of my days searching for my son. I know I wouldn't give up, I know I would think of him every day, the same if it were my brother. I can't imagine my life without them.
Religious or not, I would want to find him and at least know where his remains are at.
Posted by whatevers on October 7, 2008 at 9:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Oxnard40 - I pray that you never find yourself in a tragic situation as this, because if any tax dollars had to go out to search or rescue, would you say "don't bother"?
If they find any body, Im sure a family out there will be forever grateful, if no body is found you know what, the families of these missing kids can say someone cared enough to search.
We have so many good people in this world, like these people volunteering, one thing we should never lose is hope.
Then we have those that don't care.
Posted by oxnard40 on October 7, 2008 at 9:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)
What about Jimmy Hoffa? How about the bodies that fell into the Hoover Dam? Do we dig up the Meadowlands in NJ or knock down the Hoover Dam so those families can put flowers somewhere? This is a waste of tax money! Let the poor victims rest in peace.
Posted by Snafu on October 7, 2008 at 10:45 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Actually, oxnard40, they HAVE been digging for Jimmy Hoffa. Most recently they dug up a horse ranch to look for his body.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi...
Hoffa was a crook, so it's not fair to compare him to a young man that was murdered.
Posted by Angelmama on October 7, 2008 at 11:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)
WOW, I HAVE lost a child...and I can say that closure is still not there, and I KNOW where he is buried. Insensitive people like Joanna make me sick
Posted by GitRdone on October 7, 2008 at 11:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)
JOANNA
HAVE A HEART. YOU SOUND SO COLD & YOU ARE JUST NOT RIGHT !! I PRAY THAT YOU FIND PEACE WITHIN YOURSELF, SO THAT YOU CAN HAVE A LITTLE HEART.
Posted by almostmarried2009 on October 7, 2008 at 12:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I am sorry....what a waste of tax payers money. He confessed to the killings.
Posted by DrcGrl on October 7, 2008 at 12:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I personally think that this will give the family a false sense of possibly having closure. Question still remains....why did they wait 36 years when he confessed of the possible location?? Attempting to find this poor boys body now is only going to drum up the same feelings the family experienced when all this happened.
May the family find the closure they do deserve and the child still rest in peace!!
Posted by skullman32 on October 7, 2008 at 1:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)
There are no bodies in the hoover dam it was poured in sections & vibrated till there was not one tiny air bubble left. & if you gave 500 hundred people $10,000.00 it would not be half a million dollars.
Posted by lawabider on October 7, 2008 at 1:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I guess I'm thinking that I would have been out there with a shovel myself, had this been MY child.
Posted by sunkistkisses on October 7, 2008 at 1:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
WOW... first of all JOanna you need help... you are extremely insenstive and i hope one day you find peace within yourself.
Second Angelmama i'm sorry about your loss it hd to be tuff...the loss of a child is unbearable...no matter how it happens.
now for all of you who wondered why wait this long...anyone who knows anything about the law should be aware that you need evidence. Who cares if the killer confessed!! Give me a break its not like they are model citzens and tell the truth; and in all honesty finding that body is about closure! Closure for his brothers and sister!A place that they can go to visit to leave flowers to remember him for who he was when he was alive!
It amazes me how insensitive people have become maybe before you post something...you should think about it or put yourself in the familes shoes.
Posted by ValerinaS on October 7, 2008 at 2:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Joanna you're ridiculous. Give 500 family's about to lose their homes to foreclosure $$??? They signed the lame fluctuating loans, not anyone else. When are people going to be responsible for their own actions. And what does that have to do with this family getting a little peace.
They deserve to lay his body to rest. And if it's not his body they dig up, than another family who's still waiting. Have a heart people. If this was your daughter, your father, etc., you'd certainly feel different. I'd move mountains to find my children if something this tragic happened, I wouldn't care HOW long it took!!!
Posted by Brownpride on October 7, 2008 at 3:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Spending money on worthless things is why our country is going downhill! Idiots.
Posted by Brownpride on October 7, 2008 at 3:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I would be pissed off if they tried to move my bones after 40 years!
Posted by whatevers on October 7, 2008 at 3:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Brownpride - Are you saying this is worthless? Help me understand before I make an assumption. I am reading this two different ways, either you are calling those that are in favor of the digging idiots or those that are against it idiots?
Either way I don't think any of us are idiots, some of us care and feel compassion others don't care just like Joanna doesnt, not even about her mother like she her self said it in her post.
Posted by camarillomomma on October 7, 2008 at 3:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Joanna---your getting on my nerves!
And for everyone else, this is why they are just now searching for the body/bones:
"LAPD detectives cannot say why a search for Madison's body was not conducted after Edwards' confession in 1970 because those records from the investigation cannot be located."
I know if it were my kid, or my family member, I would not give up. That body deserves to be respected and a proper burial. And if it is not his body, and turns up to be another body, then at least some family will have closure!
Posted by surfchik805 on October 7, 2008 at 4:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This is very sad for the family and agree that they should have a place to go place flowers and property mourn the loss in their family.
And Joanna you make me sick...how could you say that about your own mother? you must be mad cuz you are the one that wants the $10,000 cuz your house is in forclosure and your one of the dimwits that signed a flucuating loan?
Posted by DrcGrl on October 7, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Camgurl, and you believe that is the reason why they haven't searched till now??? You are very naive. That particular info is mysteriously missing from the case file??? If that were so, wouldn't info such as the killers confession be missing too so not to raise this question?
Posted by factortractor on October 7, 2008 at 7:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Who the hell is paying for this? The murderer is dead, the victims family is gone...what a huge waste of time and money. Someone should lose their job over this one. Lets start naming names and calling offices to demand they pay out of their own pockets the cost of this lunacy. Put up a grave marker on the side of the offramp and stop wasting taxpayer's dollars on archeology. IDIOTS!! simple idiots.
Posted by factortractor on October 7, 2008 at 8:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
LAPD has been watching too many episodes of Cold Case and CSI........100 workers......shouldnt they be out rounding up gang bangers and shutting down the meth labs in the County? Cmon, this one is one sour pickle. Doesn't the FBI have something better to do? How many people will die because they are wasting time playing Indiana Jones?? TIME TO FIRE A LOT OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEES, start the calls, start the letters, this nonsense needs to stop.
Posted by alloyz25 on October 7, 2008 at 8:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)
factortractor, well said!
Posted by wzupnow on October 7, 2008 at 9:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)
FYI, All those people from the FBI, LAPD, at the scene are volunteers.
Posted by opi on October 7, 2008 at 9:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
wzupnow,
"FYI, All those people from the FBI, LAPD, at the scene are volunteers."
where did you get that information?
If you know of a specific article that states that they are volunteers please post a link to it.
I have never heard of a L.A.P.D. or FBI volunteer, does not make sense.
Posted by ffemt2018 on October 7, 2008 at 9:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Factor tractor can't read I assume. "LAPD Detective Vivian Flores, who has been working on the case for three years, said she talked to the missing teen's family Sunday." right out of the article. Please read he article before you make some stupid comment. There are alot of heartless people on here. I would want to know where my family member is at and I bet it will bring closure.
Posted by ffemt2018 on October 7, 2008 at 9:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Also about the donated time. In Sundays Star and Article titled " Excavation to begin for victim's remains" This was in there ""We have gone to all of these police officers and basically asked them to donate a day or two of their time," Flores said. "They all instantly agreed, and the family told me they appreciate that so much." so yes the time of all the officers is donated by the officers.
Posted by opi on October 7, 2008 at 10:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Thanks ffemt2018,
but, I am still not buying that all of the officials out there are volunteers.
one more thing, there is no such thing as closure (unless you are talking about closing on ramps and inconveniencing busy motorists ). Just another absurd, overused, mean nothing word.
Posted by alloyz25 on October 7, 2008 at 10:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)
blah, if you think this escapade won't cost taxpayers a heap, you're greatly misguided.
Posted by MarkPluto on October 7, 2008 at 10:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
My friend of many years was abused by the same child serial killer in 1968. He was only 12. Thank God he was not one of the bodies, either found or being searched for now, as he escaped. As a child, he had to deal extensively with investigators in 1968-69 and it was very traumatic. It changed the course of his life dramatically. He has discussed his nightmare experience several times with me over the years, but has never sought the help that I believe he needs. When this current story broke, I made it clear that he needed to contact the FBI with all of the numerous details he remembers, as there are still bodies that have never been found. He did so, and spent the day being re-interviewed. Thank God they offered him help, support and counseling. He's been living with this nightmare for 40 years. I'm sorry that he had all of it come roaring back so uncontrollably now, but I'm thrilled that my buddy can finally confront this MONSTER as an adult. I am so very proud of my friend's courage right now!
Posted by LiTbrAt77 on October 7, 2008 at 11:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)
WOW... I'm amazed at some of the comments by fellow readers. Everything I have read tells me that the authorities have done their homework to help ensure there is no "waste of taxpayers money" and I travel Tierra Rejada to work every morning and have seen no visible signs of "inconveniencing busy motorists".
I hope they find his remains to give piece of mind to the family.
I was born and raised in this area and I know it gives me piece of mind that they are looking.
Posted by alexa_m on October 8, 2008 at 6:17 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I hope these remains are found. The family needs closure.
Posted by factortractor on October 8, 2008 at 12:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
A waste of taxpayer money. 38 years later the family should have closure by now. If not, they never will regardless of the outcome.
Cmon, 100 police officers, agents and workers?? that kind of work and equipment, time and money, and probable waste of time could build a nice park and name it after the boy.......whats the better good here? Honestly the case is closed since the murderer is long dead.
Built a park for the boy, so at least some good can come from it, and stop wasting taxpayer's money on equipment, time and pure speculation....a witch hunt is all it is. Get back to work LAPD, your department is sadly one of the worst in the nation. Im sure all the officers either working or "donating" their time could be "volunteering" to stop current crimes and save lives. FBI, get to work and find current criminals........stop playing TV cops and deal with TODAYS problems, the past will always be there....we dont have the resources or the man power to play in the dirt. I wonder if serial killers just laugh at this since no one is watching them?? The FBI spent almost 10 years chasing down terrorists while white collar criminals looted wall street. Im confident the gangs and meth dealers are driving by watching the boys and their toys digging while they go to cause more crime. 100 volunteers could be posted at 30 DUI checkpoints for a week and save a lot of lives; CMON people, wake up and smell the CRIME......
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