SUNBURY – The investigation into the Barbara Miller case in Milton continues today. The search began early Wednesday when a forensic anthropologist, digging equipment and a cadaver dog arrived at the Front Street duplex. Sunbury Police chief Tim Miller says today that the investigation is waiting on more advanced equipment saying, “We are waiting on some more sophisticated equipment to get here we are coming up with a plan but at this point we are all putting our heads together we are trying to draw upon expertise of people in different fields to try to crack this nut and figure it out.”
Chief Miller said Wednesday, that the cadaver dog made two detections inside the home where the thick concrete wall is in the basement. He said they have not found anything yet, but that doesn’t mean they won’t.
A search warrant was produced for this investigation that cited former Sunbury Police detective Joseph “Mike” Egan as the prime suspect for the disappearance and suspected murder of Barbara Miller in 1989. Egan was the ex-boyfriend of Miller and was the person who reported her missing on July 5, 1989. According to the Standard Journal, the warrant also noted that the Front Street property was the former home of Egan’s sister, Cathy Reitenbach, who has since died.
Chief Miller said that he doesn’t plan to leave the scene empty handed saying, “I can’t leave here until I’m confident and at this point I’m not confident to pull out and leave. When I leave I will be taking something with me one way or another, I just need to make sure I’m taking the right thing.”
The investigation had been cold since 2008 until Sunbury Police chief Miller revisited the case last year. New leads from confidential informants and a fresh review of existing case files led a district judge to sign off on a search warrant for the Front Street property. Stay tuned to WKOK.com as this story develops.
