In our first two installments we discussed the circumstances leading to our participation in the Katco Media docudrama “Shattered Hopes: The True Story Of The Amityville Murders”, and our initial survey of the site where the producers believe that the murder weapon may have been disposed. So now, let’s talk about how we intend to go in and search for a pistol that has been underwater for 37 years, and is likely to be buried under several feet of thick black mud.
I think that it is important to recognize from the beginning that there is no guarantee that the weapon was actually disposed of at this site, the site was chosen by the team of forensic criminologists after years of studying the original crime scene reports and psychological profiles.
Our objective is now two-fold, to either recover the weapon, or prove conclusively that it is not there. Not an easy task, considering the conditions at the site, namely zero visibility and deep silt and mud.
Fortunately, I already had experience working with a company that is capable of helping us do exactly that. I called my friend Ken Hayes, owner of Aqua Survey, one of the world’s leading underwater detection companies. They have a long history of providing their unique services to governments around the world, including locating unexploded Vietnam War vintage ordnance in the jungles of Laos and detecting and charting ordnance around Martha’s Vineyard for the Army Corps of Engineers. They have also spent time with the Mel Fisher Group, mapping the debris field of the Spanish galleon Atocha, arguably the richest treasure wreck of all time. No doubt they would be able to help us locate our weapon among all of the junk that has accumulated in the canal over the last hundred years or so.
After discussing the specifics of the situation with Ken, we decided that we would use an “EM” detector, coupled with a military grade GPS system accurate to within 2 inches, to map every single piece of metal in the entire search area. An EM detector is similar in function to a magnetometer but infinitely more sensitive, and capable of picking up all kinds of metals, not just iron or steel. After analyzing the resulting data, we would have a map of all of the targets that had the right mass to be our murder weapon. Sounds easy, right? Dig up all of the targets, if we find the pistol, great. If we don’t find it, then it’s not there. Yup, easy…
So we meet at the site, figuring on a two day project. Day one, we do a complete EM search, day two, we dig targets until we have our weapon, all under the watchful eyes of a Hollywood film crew, Steve and Maureen Langevin of Dive Voyager Productions, and the staff of MAXIM magazine. Easy…■
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