Digging goes on for Prince

Police think her body may be buried under a Tampa home built by a contractor she dated.

By REBECCA CATALANELLO, Times Staff Writer
Published January 12, 2008

Officials with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Crime Scene Unit pack up unidentified items while departing 3908 West Vasconia Street. The FDLE and Temple Terrace crime scene vans were parked in the driveway of the two-story home from about 7:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
	[Chris Zuppa | Times]

ADVERTISEMENT The Sandra Prince case Special Report: The Search for Sandra Sandra Prince, 59, has been missing for two years. She left an estate worth $2.8 million.

TAMPA -- The dig for Sandra Prince's body enters a third day today as investigators continue to look for the missing Temple Terrace woman beneath a South Tampa home.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Tampa detectives joined Temple Terrace police early Thursday at 3908 W Vasconia St., the house where detectives think Prince was buried.

Police got a warrant to search the property on Thursday, saying the results from an expansive October dig were back and indicated presence of human remains.

A green tarp draped the back of the house Friday as crime scene investigators worked inside all day. The FDLE and Temple Terrace crime scene vans were parked in the driveway of the two-story home from about 7:30 a.m., Tampa officers patrolling the area said.

The FDLE van left at 4:35 p.m. after an employee placed a large black garbage bag into the back of the vehicle. The Temple Terrace crime scene van left about an hour later. Detectives departed at 7 p.m., leaving the scene secured by officers.

Michael Dunn, a spokesman for Temple Terrace, said investigators had not hit upon anything, but he expected detectives would be back today. Police declined to give specifics about the location of the dig within the house, but contractors called in on Thursday said they had disassembled part of a staircase.

Prince, who was 59 when she vanished, was reported missing from her Moffat Place home on Jan. 3, 2006. Her boyfriend, who police have named as a "person of interest,"began construction on the house about the same time. A city inspector approved a newly laid concrete foundation for the home on Jan. 5, 2006.

Police say the contractor, Earl C. Pippin III, dated Prince for five years while he was married. They also say he is the sole beneficiary of her estate, which court records indicate is valued at $2.8-million.

Pippin's attorney, Paul Sisco, said Thursday that police have no evidence that his client was involved in Prince's disappearance. He would not confirm Pippin's whereabouts, though the Tampa contractor was living at Lake Panasoffkee when his wife of 20 years filed for divorce from him in August 2006, according to court records. Sisco could not be reached on Friday afternoon.

Prince co-founded the Agency for Community Treatment Services more then 30 years ago. Originally from North Carolina, she was twice divorced, had no children or siblings and, friends say, led a quiet life in her shaded home on a cul-de-sac.

Rebecca Catalanello can be reached at rcatalanello@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3383.

[Last modified January 12, 2008, 00:07:34]