Several weeks after law enforcement officials received a tip that a human child could be buried in a Russellville back yard, forensic results have concluded no human remains were found in soil samples sent to the lab.
According to Russellville Police Chief Chris Hargett, investigators received word from the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences on Tuesday that no human remains were found on or in the soil samples and other items of evidence that were collected from the yard and home of a residence at the corner of Wilson Boulevard and Hunterwood Circle in Russellville.
Officials spent three days at the residence between Jan. 30 and Feb. 1 digging at a spot where it was believed the body of an infant had been buried.
Hargett said the dig was based on a tip from an informant who contacted the Alabama State Fire Marshal’s Office in mid-January claiming a woman who had lived at the residence from 2009 until just several months ago had given birth to a child who only lived for a few hours.
Hargett said the source alleged that after the child died, it had been buried in the back yard.
After obtaining a search warrant, officials from the Russellville Police Department, Alabama Bureau of Investigation, Russellville Fire Department and the Alabama State Fire Marshal’s Office’s arrived on the scene Jan. 30 with digging equipment and cadaver dogs, who indicated at a particular spot in the back yard.
Hargett said those soil samples had been submitted for forensic testing.
“We will continue to follow up on any leads we receive in the case,” Hargett said.
“We are still looking for a female who was believed to be pregnant and staying in this home around the specified time frame, but she has since left the area and her whereabouts are unknown.”
Hargett said the case will be considered inactive until further information is available.