Amador County Sheriff’s Office seeks murder suspect
Investigators with the Amador County Sheriff’s Office were seeking a murder suspect from Pine Grove Friday afternoon after the remains of a 27-year-old woman were found in unincorporated Calaveras County near West Point on Jan. 16.
Amador County Sheriff’s Office Captain Bryan Middleton said the suspect, Jerry Lee Adams Jr., 44, of Pine Grove, was not located as of Friday at 2:30 p.m.
“We have leads on where the suspect is at,” Middleton said. “I’m not going to say where we’re looking for him.”
Adams is wanted in connection with the death of Savana Lee Burger, a 27-year-old woman from Pine Grove whose remains were located by a law enforcement search team about a week ago.
The Amador County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team and the patrol and investigative deputies served an arrest warrant on Climax Road near Pioneer Drive on Wednesday, but did not locate Adams.
The cross street is located west of Pine Grove and east of the Jackson Rancheria Casino Resort.
Burger was reported missing in October by her mother after she missed a court date.
An Amador County Sheriff’s Office press release stated they began investigating the missing persons report on Oct. 23. Deputies used cellular phone data to determine she was last seen in the area of West Point.
Since October, deputies with the Investigations Bureau and Search and Rescue Team followed leads near West Point, gathering evidence and searching rural locations.
Prior to finding the body, the
multi-agency team had searched several areas in Calaveras County, following up on tips or evidence, Middleton said.
“We were following up investigative leads,” he said.
Middleton said the investigators suspected the disappearance was a homicide before the body was found. He said he could not release details on the condition of the body, which led to the determination Burger was murdered.
The area where Burger was found was described as “pretty steep, pretty wooded” in an unincorporated part of the northernmost portion of Calaveras County near West Point. The area surrounding West Point borders Amador County and the North Fork of Mokelumne River.
Along winding Highway 26 to Highway 88, it is just miles from Pine Grove — the town where the victim and suspect were identified as residents.
Middleton described the relationship between the victim and the suspect as “acquaintances.”
“This is not a random homicide,” he said.
According to an Amador County Sheriff’s Office press release, the remains were located by a multi-agency team which included the Amador County Sheriff’s Office Investigations Bureau and Crime Scene Technicians, Amador County Search and Rescue, Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office Detectives, Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office, Placer County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue and cadaver dog teams.
Other evidence was located during the search, and technicians stayed on scene through the weekend.
Burger was identified through “rapid DNA testing.”
The Amador County Sheriff’s Office requests that anyone with information regarding Adams’ whereabouts or about the case contact the Amador County Secret Witness program at 209-223-4900 or the Amador County Sheriff’s Office at 209-2236500