Search turns up empty
Investigators call off operation in Spa City girl’s disappearance
NORTHAMPTON, N.Y. » Investigators called off the search of a property in Fulton County Wednesday afternoon in a Saratoga Springs missing person case from 1986.
A search warrant was executed Tuesday after months of police vetting information that led to a parcel of land on Route 30 in the Town of Northampton.
Tammie McCormick was 13 years old when she was reported missing after she didn’t return home from school on April 29, 1986.
Spa City police have been working with troopers over the past few months, trying to obtain a search warrant.
Police said a person of interest, Arthur Mason Slaybaugh, who passed away in 2001, was believed to be one of the last people to make contact with her and had property in Fulton County.
“Having speculation or beliefs is not enough to get a search warrant, so we developed some more information recently,” city police spokesman Lt.
Bob Jillson said. “However it became to be, people had a change of heart, or whatever, but it was enough information that came forth that we could vet and get in to have a search warrant for the property.”
Investigators spent 15 hours on site Tuesday. A trooper remained at the scene overnight with the search beginning against Wednesday at 7 a.m.
“We were focused on one piece of property. There was a big debris field. I think a lot of it was foam, and we excavated that looking for any clues into Tammie McCormick’s disappearance,” Jillson said. “We didn’t find anything of value in reference in that case.”
Jillson said police speak to people on and off about the case over the years, seeking opportunities to re-interview people.
“You go and talk to people and maybe something else may come up a different name or they remember something else a little bit differently,” Jillson said. “Time has past, so we try to delve into that to see if there’s somebody else worth talking to again or somebody new to talk to, but that’s how we do the case that aren’t clear cut and you don’t have answers to, so you just try to spread your reach and talk to more people. We did some of that [Wednesday] and we maybe doing that in the future.”