After promising lead, search for Johnson’s body proves futile

A search for a missing Knox County man that had intensified since Monday afternoon has come to end with an all too familiar conclusion; no body found.

Investigators had been focusing on a creek bed near the junction of Hwy. 459 and KY 6, just behind the home of a man charged with tampering with evidence in the case.

After intense efforts, around 5 p.m. Tuesday, the search had ended after an area approximately 30 square yards in diameter had been searched, with workers digging as far down as six to seven feet deep.

As for the search, representatives from the Knox County Sheriff’s Department, Kentucky State Police and Woodbine Volunteer Fire Department assisted at the scene, digging by hand until approximately 2 a.m. Tuesday morning.

Twenty-five year old Jeremy Johnson has been missing since June 10 of 2008 when he was last seen leaving what was then Angels and Wings Sports Bar in Corbin.  Monday, thanks to what investigators called a credible tip, officials said they believed they were close to finding Johnson’s body.

As for the tip, police would not say where it came from, but a steel pole that was believed to be a marker of some sort was seen sticking up in the middle of the creek. Officials weren’t sure, but they believe the body may have been buried there last year during a time in which the creek was dry.

Late Monday and into the morning Tuesday, officials were draining a portion of the creek after calling in a backhoe to help damn up the area that had apparently been marked by someone.

Last week, Daniel Grubb, 23, of Woodbine and Bobbie R. Walters, 64, of Barbourville, pleaded not guilty to charges of tampering with evidence in the case after being arrested by the lead investigator in the case, Kentucky State Police Detective Jason York.

Grubb, who has long been considered a suspect in the case, was charged with tampering with physical evidence. The citation states that on the 11th day of June 2008, Grubb unlawfully committed the offense of tampering with physical evidence, a class D felony. On or about that date, police say Grubb moved the body of Johnson and also moved a 1993 Chevrolet Cavalier from his (Grubb’s) residence to an old strip job to hide said evidence. Walters’ citation states that he committed the offense of tampering with physical evidence by disposing of Jeremy Johnson’s body in Knox County.

Johnson has been missing since June 10 of 2008 when he was allegedly last seen at Angels and Wings Sports Bar in a red Chevrolet station wagon.

Officers from the Knox County Sheriff’s Dept. searched an area on Hwy. 459 on July 16 where they found the car belonging to Johnson on the opposite side of a hill that officials had searched before. Police said the car had been driven as far back in the woods as it could have been driven.