Authorities begin search for remains at site of suspected Iowa killings

Studey’s daughter previously told investigators about her father’s alleged history 'for years'

Scores of law enforcement officials descended on Thurman, Iowa, early Tuesday to excavate land for the second time after a woman claimed her father was a prolific serial killer who murdered up to 70 women and ordered his children to help them move the bodies, according to reports. 

People familiar with the probe told Newsweek about 15 vehicles with the Fremont County Sheriff's Office, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and the FBI drove up to the area and blocked it off mid-morning. They had a piece of heavy equipment with them, the report reads. 

Authorities planned to bore into the site of a well and dig to test a possible shallow grave along morel mushroom trails on the land Donald Dean Studey and his family lived.

Studey’s daughter, Lucy Studey McKiddy, previously told investigators about her father’s alleged history "for years," including in 2007, which prompted them to excavate a portion of the property, WHO-13 reported.

IOWA SERIAL KILLER FEARS: POLICE PLANNING EXCAVATION AMID NEW DETAILS OF 2007 MURDER CLAIMS, REPORT SAYS

Exterior of the Fremont County Sheriff Office (Fremont County Sheriff Office Facebook)

The Des Moines Register reported about some of McKiddy’s conflicting claims surrounding her father.

"In addition to women, mostly thought to be transients and what Donald Studey called ‘bar slushes’ or prostitutes, men are believed by his daughter to be buried in the well and on property stretching some 400-plus acres in the Green Hollow area about 40 miles from Omaha," Newsweek states.

IOWA SERIAL KILLER FEARS: WOMAN BEHIND MURDER CLAIMS GAVE POLICE CONFLICTING DETAILS IN 2021, REPORT SAYS

Rear view of Deputy Sheriff behind patrol car  (iStock)

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"I've talked to the FBI several times over the past decades - why didn't they do something then, when he was alive?" Lucy Studey told the publication. "I look forward to the authorities digging up the bodies, identifying the people, giving their families closure and the victims a proper burial."

Fox News' Stephanie Pagones and Ashley Papa contributed to this report. 

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