LARGO, Fla. (WFLA) — For the second day Pinellas County investigators have used heavy equipment to dig up an abandoned lot in Largo.
For the second day, Dana Hiers stood in the heat and watched.
“It’s painful, but I find comfort because I’m here,” Hiers said.
Her mother went missing on Dec. 28, 1982. The sheriff’s office said Detectives are following up on cold cases from the 1970s and 1980s.
Those include Retha Hiers, who went missing in 1982, Donyelle Johnson, who went missing in 1989 and a third case involving a Clearwater woman. The Clearwater Police Department said they are not releasing information on that case because they are not yet convinced it is connected.
Late Wednesday, the excavators uncovered a large piece of concrete buried several feet underground on the property.
“It’s just a boulder,” Hier said. “We’re concentrating on the boulder right now. Hopefully the fire department can break it up so we can see what’s inside. That’s it.”
Authorities used jackhammers to completely break up the concrete, with nothing obvious being found.
However, the search teams did uncover a pair of pants and at least one shoe buried on the property. Pinellas County officials have not said if they are connected to the missing person cases in any way.
Dana Hiers is still hoping for answers about her mother.
“It could be bodies in there, we don’t know. So we’re praying, praying we find something, skeletal remains, you know, we’re just praying,” Hiers said.