Prince search shifts to driveway

By REBECCA CATALANELLO, Times Staff Writer
Published January 18, 2008

ADVERTISEMENT Sandra Prince was reported missing from her Temple Terrace home Jan. 3, 2006.

TAMPA - Temple Terrace investigators used ground-penetrating radar on the driveway of a South Tampa home Thursday, as the search for Sandra Prince entered its seventh day.

Detectives called GeoView Inc. in for GPR testing at 3908 W Vasconia St., said Temple Terrace spokesman Michael Dunn.

He would not say what prompted the latest radar search, but said the findings could determine how much longer investigators remain on the scene.

Police have been searching beneath the foundation of a vacant two-story rental home for evidence of the Temple Terrace social worker. Detectives could be seen Thursday standing hip-deep in a hole just inside the front door.

Prince was 59 when she was reported missing from her Temple Terrace home Jan. 3, 2006. Police found her blood in the trunk of her car and garage. Police say Prince was romantically involved with Earl C. Pippin III, a Tampa contractor who built the Vasconia house about the time Prince vanished.

Police in September 2006 named Pippin a "person of interest," saying he was the sole beneficiary of her estate. Pippin's attorney says his client has nothing to do with her disappearance, and he has seen no evidence that Pippin is heir to her holding.

There is an $80,000 reward for information leading to Prince. Call Temple Terrace police at (813) 989-7110.

[Last modified January 18, 2008, 00:46:50]