Authorities: Human Remains Found In Backyard Near Shawnee

The Pottawatomie County DA Richard Smothermon confirmed that human remains have been found in a yard off Rustic Oak Drive, north of Shawnee, in Pottawatomie County.

Wednesday, March 11th 2015, 4:06 pm

By: News 9

Authorities: Human Remains Found In Backyard Near Shawnee

The Pottawatomie County DA Richard Smothermon confirmed that human remains have been found in a yard off Rustic Oak Drive, north of Shawnee, in Pottawatomie County.

“The body's approximately three feet in the ground,” said Richard Smothermon, the DA for Pottawatomie County.

He said the Medical Examiner's office sent both a forensic anthropologist and forensic archeologist to assist in the dig. And they are going layer by layer, collecting crucial clues that will help determine if the body found in the shallow grave is indeed that of Samantha Weaver, a young mother of two young girls, who vanished without a trace in June of 2012.

“The last place Samantha Weaver was seen alive was at this location,” said Smothermon.

Last year, Weaver's family members, who have been working with prosecutors, said the man who last saw Weaver alive was Troy D. Loveland and that he could provide investigators many answers.

Samantha's sister Cristy Busch confirms Weaver was only friends with Troy D. Loveland, who lived in one of the buildings on this property, and who is currently in prison for assaulting another woman there.

She says he was the last person to see her alive.

Investigators have been searching for clues in Weaver's case for almost three years and said they have chased down more than a hundred leads. The search for clues along the property was aided with the help of a high tech tool.

“We used ground penetrating radar which OSBI brought out,” said Smothermon. “We scanned it in a grid area and found ultimately where the body was found an anomaly. And we probed that area which showed a disturbance in the sand and began digging.”

And while they continue digging, Weaver's family will have to continue waiting for answers, and for the closure they have been praying for all these years.

The Medical Examiner's office will still have to make a positive identification in this case , and that could take anywhere from a few days to a few months.