KFVS12 News & Weather Cape Girardeau, Carbondale, Poplar BluffSearch for Mary Lee Grobe Goes Underground

Search for Mary Lee Grobe Goes Underground

BUTLER CO., MO --More than six months after Mary Lee Grobe mysteriously disappears, investigators begin a major search behind her granddaughter's home.Police say an anonymous caller tipped them off, saying the 74-year-old's body could be found buried underneath the septic tank.

Grobe was last seen outside her Poplar Bluff home, September 27th, 2003.Police say they decided to dig after the caller reported seeing Mary Lee's son putting in a septic tank around the time she went missing.But some family members say they're even more frustrated now."Everything in this investigation has centered right here on this property," Kenny Grobe, Mary Lee's son says.

Kenny Grobe didn't think police would find anything, and about two hours into the dig, Butler County Sheriff Bill Heaton confirmed his prediction."We're down deep enough into surface that it was hard and you couldn't tell there hadn't been any previous digging as deep as went," Heaton said.

And while the Grobe family understands police have to follow up on every lead, their frustrations were still obvious, Tuesday morning."Butler County doesn't have the manpower to do anything, but then some crackpot calls in on telephone and they have to do something like this," Kenny Grobe says. "My grandmother was still here when the septic tank was dug in the first place," Amy Grobe pointed out. Most family members believe Mary Lee's still alive, but her daughter and son-in-law in Saint Louis don't seem to think so.

If you have any information, about Mary Lee, call the police nearest you.