Sunday, April 11, 1999
Search for Diane ends on hill
Scattered bones tell tale
BY SUSAN VELA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
BOONE COUNTY — Big Jimmy Hill is a peaceful place for some. The inclined land is pastoral, near a curving creek and surrounded by farms. But the site deeply disturbs the relatives of Diane Washer. The hill's base is where 17 of the woman's bones were found in 1997 and its crest is where investigators hope to find more.
Bit by bit, Mrs. Washer's relatives are piecing together the story about how she disappeared almost five years ago.
They know that Larry Ray Freeman, 27, of Union, buried her under a pile of rocks at Big Jimmy Hill after the two were in a car crash.
They know that Mr. Freeman, who grew up nearby, has pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and will face up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced Tuesday in Boone Circuit Court.
But what they want — and don't have — is more of Mrs. Washer's remains. They believe her body was just a casing for her soul and spirit, yet having only pieces of it leaves a void.
“There's not a completeness there,” said Joy Spry, Mrs. Washer's sister. “Sometimes, in my head, I don't like that she's scattered.”
Saturday, Mrs. Spry joined Kentucky's forensic anthropologist Emily Craig and Todd Kenner, deputy for the Boone County Sheriff's Department, for an excavation at Big Jimmy Hill, east of Rabbit Hash and McVille.
All hoped that the day's findings would bring more peace to the family.
About 20 anthropology students from the College of Mount St. Joseph in Delhi joined the forensic anthropologist and sheriff's deputy to scour the area. They focused on a small ditch along Big Jimmy Hill, and by noon, found what they believe to be Mrs. Washer's fibula.
“We found some other bones, but we don't believe they were human,” Deputy Kenner said. “We were hoping to find more, but with the time, how long it's been, we were satisfied to find something.”
Mrs. Spry said she's glad the group gave it one more try, but was still disappointed.
“I'm really happy to have the one bone,” she said. “I saw how good they searched, but with all the time and water, she could be scattered anywhere.
“Now we'll have 18 bones to have a funeral with.”
The disappearance
Diane Washer and her husband, James, were living on Maryland Avenue in Covington. She was the oldest of five children and known to be stubborn, big-hearted and one to champion the underdog.
The Washers didn't have a phone and neither of them drove. So Mrs. Washer, then 39, and her mother had been corresponding by letters for about two years.
James Washer contacted her family in late July 1994 to ask if they had seen his wife. He told them she hadn't returned home for a couple of days.
Her relatives told them selves that she must have needed to get away for a while.
“You can only tell yourself that for so long,” Mrs. Spry said. “Then reality hits.”
Mrs. Washer's daughter, Lisa Baynum, in her 20s, visited her mother's home and saw that the older woman's blood pressure pills were still in the refrigerator. Mrs. Washer always took the pills when traveling.
Mrs. Washer's family reported her missing on Aug. 24, 1994, but it would take years before her relatives knew she was dead.
In the interim, they worked with Covington Police, circulated posters and started making calls to other states whenever they learned that unidentified bodies had been found.
Glimmer of hope
Mrs. Spry remembers learning in summer 1997 that some human bones — part of a skull, a leg bone and a pelvic bone — had been found at the base of Big Jimmy Hill.
Dr. Craig, the state's forensic anthropologist, had been called in. She and a group of University of Kentucky students scoured the roadside and creekbed.
Officials said the bones probably belonged to a Caucasian woman, 35-40 years old and 5-feet-2 to 5-feet-4 tall. They also said that the woman had been dead for six months to two years.
“This was more of a gut feeling than I'd ever had,” said Mrs. Spry, who remembers immediately thinking that it had to be her sister.
Boone County Sheriff Mike Helmig asked whether her sister had any distinguishing physical problems. She mentioned her sister's back problems, brought in X-rays, and the answers began to come.
Dr. Craig had found the 17 bones after a three-day excavation in 1997. She said the difficulty in any dig is that there is nothing to hold together a skeleton, and bones tend to blend into their surroundings.
“There are finger bones that are nothing larger than a peanut, and wrist and ankle bones look like pebbles,” she said. “Even long bones look almost like sticks. They all take on the color of the surrounding soil and the leaves.”
Once she had a profile, Dr. Craig entered it into a regional database of missing persons. There were 15 missing women who could fit the profile, including Mrs. Washer.
“We were able to strongly suspect that it was Diane Washer shortly after the bones were found,” Dr. Craig said. “But then we had to go through the process of elimination.”
Finally, the doctor turned to mitochondrial DNA testing. The technique is used to analyze the genetic material inherited from a person's mother.
Dr. Craig relies on the technique when there are no body fluids or blood samples to work with, which usually occurs once or twice a year.
It's “only done as an absolute last resort, when we have exhausted all other means,” said Dr. Craig, noting that she identifies about 100 bodies annually. It's a lengthy process.
Finally, an answer
In June 1998, six months after Mrs. Washer's mother provided a blood sample to Cell Mark Diagnostics in Maryland, she learned that the bones belonged to her daughter.
Only when the body was identified could Deputy Kenner begin his investigation. He knew he was facing an emotional and professional challenge when he sat down to meet Mrs. Washer's relatives and they presented a framed collage of pictures of Mrs. Washer throughout her life.
Sheriff Helmig called the case a top priority, and Deputy Kenner often found himself poring over files and evidence.
He knew that Mrs. Washer had died from a blow to the back of her head. He also was aware that she and her husband had a domestic dispute on July 20, 1994. The couple reportedly had been at a Covington bar before they went to the Sunoco station at 13th Street and Madison Avenue in Covington.
Mrs. Washer had called police from the gas station. Her husband was gone when they arrived. He was Deputy Kenner's prime suspect for about four months.
But by fall 1998, Deputy Kenner was at his wit's end. He had no way to explain why Mr. Washer would have been in Boone County on July 20 and he had eliminated him as a suspect.
Deputy Kenner made an Oct. 30 television news appearance to say that he needed help in figuring out how Mrs. Washer died.
Soon after, he received a tip about Mr. Freeman, who was arrested Dec. 10 at the construction site where he had been working.
He has since confessed to first-degree manslaughter in Mrs. Washer's death, saying that the two ran into each other the night of July 20 at a Covington bar.
Mr. Freeman will be sentenced at 11 a.m. Tuesday. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Mrs. Washer's relatives are to testify about their loss.
Freeman's story
Mr. Freeman said that Mrs. Washer was very drunk and that he had been on a three-day binge when they met. They bought a case of beer and left together in his car. He has said they were drinking, smoking pot and taking pills as they drove into rural Boone County.
He said he blacked out and only regained consciousness when his car crashed. That's when he saw Mrs. Washer fly out the passenger side door. Her head was bleeding and she was dead when he got out of the car, Mr. Freeman said.
He dragged her body to Big Jimmy Hill and covered her with rocks. He left but later returned to burn Mrs. Washer's purse and bloody shirt, which remained near the burial site.
He would soon sell his car. It would be crushed and turned into scrap metal by the time Deputy Kenner knew of the crash.
Mrs. Washer's family is familiar with the story, but they believe she was murdered that night. However, Deputy Kenner doubts that and said it would be difficult to prove.
His investigation has led him to Carroll, Grant and Pulaski counties. But too much time has gone by, crucial physical evidence has been destroyed and what he's been left with is basically word of mouth.
“Our evidence is nothing,” Deputy Kenner said. “He knew it. It's all sixth-person hearsay. There was just no evidence there. The evidence was Diane herself.”
Since the 17 bones found near Gunpowder Creek were identified, Mrs Washer's relatives have held a memorial service. They will hold another service and burial once they get her bones back from the medical examiner's laboratory.
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Police to visit with residents
Search for Diane ends on hill
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