CALDWELL COUNTY, N.C. — Investigators searched for a woman’s body Tuesday morning in a Caldwell County landfill.
Authorities believe the suspect placed the body of Sarah Riddle in a dumpster in Mitchell County last month, and have been able to trace an area of the landfill where they believe that trash ended up.
Channel 9 was with deputies from Caldwell, McDowell and Mitchell counties as they arrived at the landfill just a few miles west of Lenoir.
From Chopper 9, you could see the intense search underway for the body of Riddle, who investigators said was murdered, along with Lisa Robbins, in Mitchell County.
Deputies have charged Cecil Byrd with two counts of murder in the deaths, which they believe both happened at his home near Bakersville.
Investigators described Tuesday’s search as “looking for a needle in a haystack.”
Deputies believe Riddle's body was placed in a dumpster in Mitchell County and they have traced the truck through the Mitchell-Yancey transfer station to an area of the landfill near Lenoir.
"It's going to be difficult,” said McDowell County Captain Shannon Smith. “There's a lot of trash that we have to go through, and we're going to have to go through it bag by bag. We have it narrowed down, but there is still going to be two tractor-trailer loads of trash that we're gonna have to go through."
Deputies said they don't have a motive behind the murders but said that Byrd knew the women.
Deputies have not said how long the search would take, but one deputy told Channel 9 they hope the efforts will bring some closure to the family.
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