State Police Excavate Backyard In Homicide Investigation

By Andrew Gorosko

Armed with a search warrant, state police have been excavating the backyard at a home on a quiet street in Hawleyville for more than a week. They are seeking physical evidence linked to the 1984 disappearance and possible homicide of a Sherman woman.

Excavation was underway at 15 Farrell Road on Wednesday, as workmen used a large loader and multiple dump trucks to dig up and haul away sandy soil from the backyard.

During the course of their digging, the workers removed several motor vehicle bodies and frames that had been buried in the backyard, according to neighbors.

State police spokesman Lieutenant J. Paul Vance said this week the work has been underway as state police seek to develop new information on the 1984 disappearance of Mary Badaracco of Sherman.

“We’re looking for items of evidentiary value…We have recovered many items,” he said.

The investigation does not involve the current resident of the house, according to state police.

Ernest Dachenhausen, who lived at 15 Farrell Road in the 1980s, could not be reached for comment. 

Lt Vance said that investigators had not found a corpse or body parts at the scene.

Ms Badaracco has been missing since August 1984 and is believed to be a homicide victim. She was last seen at her Sherman home, according to state police. The woman’s date of birth is March 11, 1946, so she was 38 when she was reported missing.

A $50,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for Ms Badaracco’s disappearance and/or homicide.

“There was a significant amount of digging,” Lt Vance said of state police’s efforts to find evidence in the case. “We’re not done yet,” he added.

“We’ve found some items that we’re going to examine,” he said.

After a loader on the site fills up a dump truck, that truck leaves the area to store the excavated soil for state police inspection elsewhere.

Lt Vance encouraged the public to contact the state police’s Western District Major Crime Squad at Troop A in Southbury if they have information on the Badaracco case. The telephone number is 800-376-1554.

State police have received some promising information on the case, and thus are excavating the Farrell Road backyard in seeking evidence, Lt Vance said. The lieutenant declined to disclose the source of the information.

“We’re evaluating what we’ve done…We have to examine what we have,” he said.

On Wednesday, the compact backyard appeared largely excavated to a depth of about six feet.  

In a statement, the Badaracco family said, “This is the first substantial lead in all these 23 years that could lead to physical evidence being unearthed. Who buries a car, let alone three or four cars, unless they are hiding something?…Our mother’s case must be investigated until investigators are…certain all evidence has been found and all leads have been exhausted.”