Possible human remains discovered during investigation of police chief slaying

DARTMOUTH, Mass. — The Bristol County District Attorney says what appear to be human remains have been discovered behind a home during a search involving the FBI, the Pennsylvania State Police, and the Massachusetts State Police in Dartmouth.

Authorities have been focusing their attention on the house for months. It’s home to the wife of a man police have been trying to find for nearly 37 years.

The decades-long quest is connected to the murder of a police chief in Pennsylvania in 1980.

Investigators say Donald Eugene Webb shot Saxonburg, Pennsylvania Police Chief Greg Adams during a traffic stop.

“I was 12 years old when he was murdered, I lived on the county on the other end of the county and all the adults were talking about it,” current Saxonburg Police Chief Joe Beachem said, “Getting in the field you can’t help but think about it through your career.”

Shortly after the slaying, Webb's car was found in Warwick, Rhode Island.

Sources confirmed to Boston 25 News around 8 p.m. that human remains were found in the backyard on Maplecrest Drive during an all day long excavation.

About an hour later, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn held a news conference and said “what appear to be human remains” were unearthed on the left side of the backyard.

Investigators are not commenting on the whereabouts of homeowner Lillian Webb.

Boston 25 News first reported on the potential break in the cold case last month after detectives got a tip about the house. During a search last month investigators discovered a hidden room and a cane.

Antonio Almeida says he’s being doing yard work for Lillian Webb at the home for more than decade, but he rarely saw her until recently and never suspected a thing.

“For the years I’ve been here, only three weeks ago, four weeks ago that’s when I saw her standing up in front of me she’s been here for a long time,” he said.

Quinn said the Medical Examiner's Office would determine the cause of death, when the death occurred and identify the remains.

A $100,000 reward is offered by the FBI for information leading to Webb's capture.

Associated Press