Search continues at kidnapping suspect's home in Massachusetts where 3 bodies were found
Investigators on Saturday continued scouring the home of a kidnapping suspect in Springfield, Massachusetts, where three dead bodies have already been found in and around the unassuming, green clapboard house.
"Needless to say, the search has been very thorough, it's very painstaking and it's very much ongoing and it remains active," Hampden County District Attorney Anthony Gulluni told reporters Friday.
The probe could go on for "days, if not longer," the district attorney said.
Authorities began combing the residence, the last known address of 40-year-old Stewart Weldon, on Wednesday and announced their grisly discovery of three bodies the next day.
No additional human remains have been discovered since, but investigators have brought in ground-penetrating radar technology to assist in their search beneath the ground's surface, according to Gulluni.
Weldon's mother bought the property two years ago and is listed as the owner, according to public records.
Weldon and the home where he is believed to live came under investigation after a police encounter with him Sunday night. Officers stopped his car for having a broken tail light, and he tried to drive away.
After police apprehended Weldon following a short chase, they found a woman with him in the car who told officers that Weldon had held her captive for a month, sexually assaulted her and beaten her, according to ABC affiliate WGGB-TV in Springfield.
The woman, who has not been identified, was transported to a hospital for multiple injuries and is expected to recover, according to Gulluni.
Weldon was arrested that night. He pleaded not guilty to kidnapping and other charges on Tuesday and was ordered held on $1 million bail, WGGB-TV reported.
It wasn't Weldon's first run-in with police. In Massachusetts, he has been previously charged with breaking and entering as well as assault with a dangerous weapon, for which he spent time in jail, according to court records.
Police records show Weldon was arrested three times in Springfield last year.
No one has been charged in connection to the bodies found at the Springfield property, nor has Weldon been linked to them. The identities of the deceased have not been released.
Other individuals who lived in the residence are accounted for and safe, according to Gulluni.
Neighbors said they're anxious for investigators to conclude their search and provide answers.
"Hopefully there's no more [bodies] and no one else is injured," Stacy Serrano, who has lived in the neighborhood for 18 years, told WGGB-TV.
