Volunteer investigators produce no new leads on missing Calverts
- A group of retired law-enforcement officers has spent hundreds of hours poring over the case, but no new leads have developed to explain the disappearance of John and Elizabeth Calvert more than three years ago, Beaufort County investigators say.
The Sheriff's Office Cold Case Review Team -- local volunteers who have full access to cold-case files -- has been working on the Calvert case and eight other unsolved homicides in the county. The 10-member team has met 20 times since Sheriff P.J. Tanner first provided it with information in January 2010 about the Calverts.
The Hilton Head Island couple vanished March 3, 2008. Their missing-person case remains open, though they've officially been declared dead.
"We've discussed the Calvert case numerous times," said Capt. Bob Bromage, who helps oversee the team. "Over the past year, collectively, team members have spent hundreds of man hours examining the case. They're looking for anything that will help us further the evidence. We've had some great, and heated, discussions."
Bromage said one team member, a retired Internal Revenue Service investigator, spent months examining financial records for information others might have missed.
But the paper trail hasn't led investigators anywhere they haven't already looked, Bromage said.
"They hope that they can bring something that will break a case, but it's not always that easy," he said.
No arrests have been made in any of the cold cases, but the team continues to meet every month and in smaller three- and four-person groups at members' homes to review facts, statements and pictures. The only costs associated with the team are for providing copies of case files, Bromage said.
The team's work is not limited to cold cases.
Members reviewed the case against Jerry Lamont Scantling before he was charged June 10 in the shooting death of Hilton Head Island resident Leonard Green, Tanner said. The body of the 42-year-old man was found May 23, 2010, near the C.C. Haigh Jr. boat landing on Pinckney Island.
"In the Green case, they were satisfied that we did everything we could and had done a thorough investigation," Bromage said.
The team also has examined the unsolved homicide of Eleanor McLeod, an 84-year-old resident of Sandalwood Terrace apartments on Hilton Head, who was strangled to death and found by a caretaker Jan. 17, 2010, according to reports.
The Sheriff's Office will not release details about the McLeod case, citing the ongoing investigation.
Other unsolved homicides and missing-person cases the team has reviewed include:
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Volunteer investigative team reviews the disappearance of John and Elizabeth Calvert, March 6, 2010
Police delve into unsolved murders, Jan. 13, 2004
This story was originally published July 4, 2011 at 6:50 PM with the headline "Volunteer investigators produce no new leads on missing Calverts."