Dig ends; no remains found {UPDATED}

Published 2:00 pm Thursday, March 19, 2015

Investigators dig through dirt from an old well at a home located on Coffee County Road 412, just across the Coffee County line on Thursday.

Investigators and authorities with the FBI, ABI, Opp Police Department and Coffee County Sheriff’s Office have ended an almost all-day excavation at a remote site along the Covington County and Coffee County line after authorities received a tip involving a nearly 18-year-old case.

Authorities there were looking for the remains of Opp teenager Kemberly Ramer. Ramer has been missing since 1997. They had no luck.

Coffee County District Attorney Tom Anderson, who was on the scene Thursday morning, said the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office received a tip three to four weeks ago that Ramer’s remains were located in a well behind a dilapidated home on Coffee County Road 412.

“The person who gave the tip had connections with people who have been deemed persons of interest by the Opp Police Department,” Anderson said. “We felt it was our duty to look into this further.”

Anderson said the Sheriff’s Office was in communication with the FBI, who recently brought two cadaver dogs to the location to search.

Anderson said the dogs didn’t pinpoint human scent, but did hit on the general area of the well.

The Coffee County Commission supplied machinery from its road department to help with the dig.

The excavator reached nearly 30 feet deep as authorities continued to search for the remains.

Opp Police Department Investigator Walt Inabinett inspects a piece of cloth found during the dig.

Ramer was last seen around 10 p.m. on Aug. 15, 1997, leaving her boyfriend’s home.

From all accounts, Ramer made it home that August night and was taken from inside the residence. Over the years, Ramer’s disappearance has been featured on multiple TV shows, including the Montel Williams show.

In 2011, The Star-News reported the story was featured on CNN’s Nancy Grace. Ramer’s mother, Sue, told CNN she believes someone entered the girl’s home and took her.

The case remains unsolved despite, numerous tips, leads and searches over the years, including searching a lake, baptism hole and a sinkhole near Ponce de Leon, Fla., all of which yielded nothing.

Ramer’s case has been labeled as a missing person/kidnapping, it is also on the list of cold cases to be solved by the Covington County Cold Case Task Force.

For more stories on Kem Ramer:

OPD: No new leads on Ramer

Ramer remembered on the Internet