ESSEX, Vt. -
We keep learning new details about serial killer Israel Keyes everyday. Today is no exception.
We are now learning the FBI is looking for a woman, a possible first victim. Oregon-based agents say Keyes admitted to raping but not killing a young girl there in the late 1990's.
Keyes said it happened along a river near a town called Maupin between '96 and '98. He separated her from a group of friends and then assaulted her. The victim would now be in her late 20's or 30's.
Keyes admitted to eight murders and, so far, only the Curriers and an Alaskan barista have been identified.
But, police feel strongly Keyes would have killed again had he not taken his own life this past Sunday. Keyes stopped cooperating with police after learning his name had been linked publicly to the crimes and then slit his wrists in an Alaskan jail.
Prior to his death, he told police that he'd buried so called "kill kits" all across the country.
Today, I went out with a Detective to give you a better look at where one of them was buried.
It was eerie out there. It's an isolated area, but used fairly frequently by hikers. Police say the murder weapon used on Bill Currier, and other items were originally buried in a wooded area in Essex.
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Confessed serial killer Israel Keyes told the FBI that in 2009, he came out with a shovel, and stashed a handgun, silencer, zip ties and other items in the southeast corner of the Woodside Natural Area in Essex. Two years later, Keyes returned, dug up his "kill kit" and chose at random, to use it on Bill and Lorraine Currier.
"It's the hardest and longest investigation I've been involved with in 28 years," Essex Police Detective George Murtie said.
Detective Murtie took me out to the site Friday. It's about a two mile trek from Route 15, near the edge of the Winooski River.
"An area like this would have been in his comfort zone, he was very comfortable out in the woods," Detective Murtie said.
Keyes told investigators that he had moved the "kill kit" from the Essex site, but just to be sure investigators spent hours scouring the area. Essex Police now consider this case closed.
But while in jail for another murder, Keyes continued to give detailed descriptions of the crime. He told police he had buried "kill kits" all across the country. The one in the picture was recovered in Parishville, New York. There, they recovered the Currier's gun and the murder weapon.
In both 2009 and 2011, Keyes stayed at the Handy Suites that's just down the road from where he buried the "kill kit." Police say had he not been caught, he would have struck again.
"I think there's a substantial likelihood that he would have killed again if he had remained free," Detective Murtie said.
Sadly it's too late for the Curriers and police don't think their bodies will ever be found.
I asked the Detective, "do you feel pretty confident that the bodies had been left in the farmhouse and are in the landfill?" He replied, "yes."
I wanted to know if Keyes' suicide hindered the investigation because obviously that put a stop to the information police were getting out of him. The detective wouldn't address whether more time with Keyes could have brought closure to more families.
While Essex Police consider the Currier case closed, the FBI's investigation is still on-going and is releasing new details every day.
