Capt. James Bauman said a male subject told authorities on Oct. 12 that he was asked to remodel a home in Kelseyville some time previously.
When the man went to remodel the home, he found bullet holes in the walls and a bloodstained carpet, which led him to believe a murder had taken place, Bauman said.
The man said he went forward with the remodel, but kept the padding underneath the carpet, telling detectives he felt it was the right thing to do, according to Bauman.
Sheriff's detectives recovered the carpet pad from the man's Lower Lake home. Bauman said it did appear to contain a blood stain, and it was sent to the Department of Justice lab for testing.
Based on testing, “They're feeling it is in fact blood stain,” said Bauman, however, the tests have not been totally conclusive, in part due to the use of a cleaner on the carpet pad.
With the test results raising concerns, on Dec. 1 detectives served dual search warrants at the Kelseyville residence where the remodel took place, he said.
As the man had described, they found bullet holes in the walls of the hallway, with the holes patched up, Bauman said.
They followed up by executing another search warrant on a Clark Drive property in Kelseyville over the weekend, Bauman said.
Cadaver dogs were used to search the property, and Bauman said the dogs alerted on a certain area.
Because it was late, the search had to be suspended and sheriff's personnel ended up having to spend the night on scene to keep it secure, according to Bauman.
The next day, another set of cadaver dogs were brought in, but they didn't hit on the same area as the previous set of dogs did, he said.
Bauman said an excavation was carried out of the area where the first dogs had hit, but no body was found.
At this point, Bauman said they have a suspicious circumstances case that has been suspended due to leads.
As to the possible identity of the victim, Bauman said they have no clues thus far, and they're still assessing the witness' reliability.
Anyone with information on the case can call the sheriff's office at 707-262-4200. Bauman said callers don't have to identify themselves when passing along information on crimes.
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