Armed with new information, investigators searching for the body of a Huron County man missing for more than a decade have new hope his body may be recovered.
A team of nine detectives and specially trained searchers are focused on a roughly two-acre area near Norwalk as they look for Michael Sheppard's body.
Sheppard was reported missing in May 2003.
Last year, three men were charged with robbing and killing Sheppard. This week, one of them, Joshua Stamm, cut a deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of involuntary manslaughter.
Within a day, Tim Miller, founder of Texas Equusearch says he received a phone call from a BCI detective wanting to know how quickly Miller could get to Huron County.
Miller searched the same woods eight years ago looking for Sheppard. But he says new information has led investigators to believe the man's body could be buried on a hillside near a creek.
Two other men, Adam White and Scott Hall, still face murder and aggravated robbery charges in the case. They're scheduled to go to trial in December.
Miller admits finding Sheppard would likely have an impact on those prosecutions but said he's focused on what the discovery would mean to Sheppard's family.
Searchers plan to resume digging in the remote area off Fox Lane on Friday.
