Warren Police said suspected serial killer Arthur Ream bragged in prison about killing four to six people.
Now, investigators are digging on a wooded parcel of land in Macomb Township hoping to find them. It's a spot near where Ream buried 13-year-old Cindy Zarzycki, whom he killed 1986.
“We do have, as you know, probable cause to believe that this is a grave site," Warren Police Commissioner William Dwyer said Wednesday at a news conference near the search site. "No question about it, that Kimberly King and other young female victims who were murdered are buried here."
Kimberly was 12 when she vanished from Warren in September 1979.
"I was the last person to see Kim alive before she disappeared," her friend, Annie Godbout said at the news conference. "And I know that something horrible happened to her that night. She never, ever would have left her sisters and her grandmother worrying about her."
But is Ream really a serial killer or just another prisoner who embellishes his record?
Dwyer sounded confident that other bodies would be found, but wouldn't disclose all the information investigators have. He did say that detectives have interviewed Ream and fellow prisoners and that Ream failed a polygraph test. He also said that while searchers have yet to locate human remains, they did find something, but he wouldn't elaborate.
"What we have found makes us very cautiously optimistic that we're on the right track," Dwyer said.
The wooded area is in Macomb Township near the intersection of 23 Mile Road and North Avenue. After his 2008 conviction, Ream led investigators to an unmarked grave on the property, which was once owned by Ream's friends.
There, they found Cindy, of Eastpointe, buried about 18 inches deep.
Dwyer said other missing girls who could be connect to Ream include:
- Cynthia Coon, 13, who disappeared from Ann Arbor in 1970
- Nadine O'Dell, 16, who disappeared in Inkster in 1974
- Kim Larrow, 15, who disappeared in Canton in 1981
- Kellie Brownlee, 17, who disappeared in Novi in 1982
Investigators said they found no connection between any of those victims, who appear to have been targeted randomly.
In the Cindy Zarzycki murder, investigators said Ream knew his victim, who was the girlfriend of his then-14-year-old son, Scott. Ream met her at a Dairy Queen and told her he was going to take her to his son's birthday party, according to then-assistant prosecutor Steve Kaplan.
Eastpointe Detective Derek McLaughlin, who cracked the case, said Ream admitted having a fetish for teenage girls.
At his sentencing, Ream said he didn't assault Cindy and that her death was an accident.
Tim Kohler, who represented Ream in the case, told the Free Press on Wednesday that his former client "baited people" and was "not a likable guy."
Still, Ream never hinted that there could be more victims, Kohler said.
Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith said that in 2008, authorities didn't see any signs, either.
"He gave us no indication that there may be other bodies there," Smith said, adding that Ream appeared to be a guy who craved attention and "if there were more, I'm surprised he didn't tell us 10 years ago."
Criminal past
Ream was accused of sexually assaulting a hitchhiker in Shelby Township in 1974. He was convicted and released from prison in 1978.
In 1998, Ream pleaded guilty to third-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a 14-year-old girl in Gladwin County in northern Michigan. Records show he was sentenced to four to 15 years and was still in prison when he was charged with Cindy's murder.
This is a photo of Cindy Zarzycki at about age 13, around the time she went missing in 1986. Her killer, Arthur Ream, was sentenced Aug. 7, 2008 to life in prison. (Photo: Family photo)
Ream has been cagey with investigators in the past.
During his 2008 murder trial, Ream offered to lead investigators to Cindy's body in exchange for a second-degree murder conviction. Prosecutors were ready to take the deal, but Ream backed out.
A jury convicted him of first-degree murder, which carries a mandatory life sentence without parole. A month after his conviction, Ream did lead them to the Macomb Township location.
He is currently serving his life sentence for murder at the Earnest C. Brooks Correctional Facility in Muskegon Heights. While he remains in prison, investigators from Warren Police, Michigan State Police, the Macomb County Sheriff's Office and the FBI continue their search in Macomb Township.
On Wednesday near the entrance to the dig site, neighbors walked their dogs and pushed babies in strollers, stopping to catch glimpses of the activity. Search crews loaded their cars with shovels and headed to spot at the far end of a swampy field surrounded by trees. Salvation Army trucks parked near the taped-off area to provide food and water to searchers.
At the news conference Wednesday, police said the search could last several days.
"It would mean a great deal to be able to bring her remains home, obviously," said Kimberly's older sister, Konnie Beyma. "But it looks like it may bring a great deal of hope to a lot of families, so I think this is very important, not just for us but for many families.”
Contact John Wisely: 313-222-6825 or jwisely@freepress.com
Contact Elisha Anderson: 313-222-5144 or eanderson@freepress.com.
