Hunt for missing teens uncovers bodies
HAMMOND, Indiana (AP) -- A search for three missing teenagers uncovered at least two bodies buried beneath freshly poured concrete in the basement of a house, authorities said Wednesday.
Both were wrapped in plastic and duct tape. Authorities have identified the corpses as white males. Pathologists did not immediately release the results of an autopsy on the first body.
"The person took a long time in doing this," Lake County Coroner David Pastrick said. "It took awhile for our pathologist to remove all that was around the body."
Additional remains -- possibly those of a third victim -- were found Wednesday morning, and investigators were working to collect them. Police Chief John Cory said an anthropologist was being brought in to examine the remains.
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Investigators had searched the two-story house for about 10 hours Tuesday and removed two body bags. Cory said a tenant he described as "a person of interest" had been taken into custody and was being questioned.
He would not identify the person in custody. No criminal charges were filed.
On Wednesday, officers used ground-penetrating radar equipment and a dog trained to search for bodies, Cory said.
Officer Michael Jorden, a city police spokesman, said three male teenagers have been reported missing in the past several months. Michael Dennis, 13, was last seen September 10 at a home near the one that was searched. Names of the other two, ages 19 and 16, have not been released.
Nancy DiGiovanni, a Dennis family friend, said Michael and other children used to frequent the house where the remains were found.
The site of the search was just north of the community's downtown.
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