CLEAR LAKE, S.D. (KELO.com) — The Deuel County Sheriff’s Office issued the following statement about the search for Pamela Dunn, who has been missing since late 2001.
On November 4, 2020 agencies from South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, Watertown Police Department and Deuel County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant near 170th St and 477th Ave, rural Clear Lake, SD, in the search of Pamela Dunn.
The property has been abandoned since the mid 1980’s and is owned by a resident of Colorado.
An excavator and payloader was used to excavate a well located on the property by the Deuel County Highway Department. The well had about a 3ft radius, was about 21ft down to top of the silt that has filled in. The well was dug out to 29ft deep. In the 25ft to 29ft depth authorities found remains, of which, many were identified as animal remains. The remains that are in question will be analyzed to determine if they are human or nonhuman.
Pamela went missing from Watertown, SD on December 10, 2001. She has not been located since. On October 4, 2006 David Asmussen was found guilty by a Codington County jury for kidnapping and was sentenced to life in prison. On November 27, 2017 authorities searched this well with a vacuum truck and hair was found. This was later confirmed to be human hair by the South Dakota DCI Forensic lab and later send to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification for DNA testing. The hair found was too degraded for DNA typing.
Law enforcement will continue the investigation into the disappearance of Pamela Dunn until she is found and can bring the family closure.
(Liz Ryan, KELO.com News, contributed to this report.)
