Mother gets 'closure' after draining pond, unearthing last of her murdered son's remains

Connie Goodwin, the mother of the deceased murder victim, rented a sump pump to drain a Missouri pond and recover the last of her son's remains. She sought help from her husband and grandson to give her son a proper burial.

Edward Goodwin was 32 years old when he was murdered in 2015. He went missing during the summer and left behind his 15-year-old son, Gage. For two years, Connie held search parties and put up billboards while persistently urging authorities to look for her missing son.

In 2017, the Butler County Sheriff's Department discovered Edward's partial remains in a small lake in Poplar Bluff. After draining water from the lake, the sheriff's department found 40% of Edward's remains that they used to convict two men who were suspected of his murder.

However, Connie still felt that she could not have closure until she recovered the remaining 60% of her son that was still missing. She told People Magazine, "They promised they were going to go back, even in the newspaper they said they were going to go back, but they never did, I called them about every other day trying to find out when they were going to do it. I told them months ago that if they don't do it, I told them that one of these days, I'm going to do it myself."

On Saturday morning, Connie and Gage arrived at the lake with the rented sump pump drain to finish the job. Two hours after starting the draining, they saw bones and the blocks which were used to sink Edward's body to the bottom of the lake.

"We saw two bones sticking up, so we kept pumping and then the next thing you know we started seeing the concrete blocks and then barbed wire and more bones," Connie shared.

The Butler County Coroner was then called to the scene and confirmed that the body's dental records matched Edward Goodwin's.

Edward's family can now give him a proper resting place after recovering the rest of his remains. They share, "He was a loving father; he was a loving son, and he'd do anything for anyone. He loved his kids and his nieces and nephews. He loved his whole family and his family loved him."