A Missouri mother took it upon herself Saturday to help bring her son’s remains home, a job she said local police hadn’t finished in seven years.
According to the Riverfront Times, Connie Goodwin, 57, and her family members drained an unnamed pond in Missouri where her son, Edward Goodwin, 32, was found dead in 2017. Goodwin reportedly said cops failed to complete the job for years while it took her a few hours.
Goodwin was allegedly murdered over a drug transaction by his own friends. All of his remains have never been found until Saturday, when Goodwin used a sump pump to drain the pond. PEOPLE reports that authorities previously found around 40% of the victim’s remains.
“They promised they were going to go back, even in the newspaper they said they were going to go back, but they never did,” Connie told PEOPLE. “I called them about every other day trying to find out when they were going to do it.”
“We saw two bones sticking up, so we kept pumping, and then the next thing you know we started seeing the concrete blocks and then barbed wire and more bones.”
Butler County Sheriff Mark Dobbs reportedly to PEOPLE that police returned to the pond in 2021 but didn’t have the correct equipment to drain the pond. On Saturday, a coroner arrived to pick up the remains.
Rickey Hurt and Eldrid Smith were said to be Edward’s childhood friends, according to DailyMail. In 2021, the pair pleaded guilty to murdering Edward; Connie told CrimeOnline that Hurt received 18 years in prison and Smith received 12 years.
“There was a grudge over past drug transactions between Ed Goodwin and the group who eventually assaulted him,” Dobbs previously said. “At the time of the incident, they were working together on a remodeling project at a house in Butler County.”
Meanwhile, Connie said her son’s loved ones are grateful they can give him a proper burial.
“He was a loving father; he was a loving son, and he’d do anything for anyone,” Connie said. “He loved his kids and his nieces and nephews. He loved his whole family and his family loved him.”
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[Featured image via Connie Goodwin/Facebook]
Editor’s Note: The story has been updated to reflect Hurt received an 18-year prison sentence and Smith received a 12-year sentence. Previous reports indicated that the pair got life behind bars.
