FBI surveys spot linked to killing spree

LINDEN -- The FBI surveyed areas in eastern San Joaquin County this week where death row inmate Wesley Shermantine has said the remains of more murder victims are likely to be recovered.

The surveying along Flood Road was the first visible sign of activity since Aug. 26, when state prison officials and the FBI escorted Shermantine, 46, to Linden to have him point to places where they might dig.

Tuesday's surveying was for planning purposes, said FBI spokeswoman Gina Swankie. She would not say when or if the FBI would begin excavating.

Earlier this year, officials, led by tips Shermantine sent from his cell at San Quentin State Prison, reclaimed the remains of five victims of Shermantine and his boyhood friend, Loren Herzog, in Calaveras and San Joaquin counties. The duo grew up together in Linden near the area the FBI was surveying Tuesday. They were arrested in 1999, and a jury sent Shermantine to death row for four murders. Herzog was sentenced to prison for three of the murders, but his case was overturned on appeal. He hanged himself in January.