The Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office said on Wednesday that a forensic excavation of the basement of the Campbellsport home where a 6-year-old boy went missing in 1983 did not produce any remains. However, new potential evidence was discovered and will undergo further analysis.
Detectives remain hopeful that this evidence will provide further insight into the disappearance of Bobby Jo Fritz on May 14, 1983. That’s the last time he was seen playing in a front yard with friends. The Sheriff’s Office said that this, and other cold cases, remain open and active and, as veteran detectives retire and new investigators take over, fresh perspectives often bring renewed energy to these investigations. Along with technology and techniques that weren’t available 43 years ago, such progress has reinvigorated the search into Bobby Jo’s disappearance.
———What Led to the Present Investigation, and What was Revealed———
In Wednesday’s release, the Sheriff’s Office said that over the past year, detectives identified and interviewed several individuals, some of whom had never been spoken to before, who may have connections to the case. A thorough review of the original cas files, paired with these new interviews, generated sufficient probable cause for a search warrant. The initial search of the basement at Bobby Jo’s former home uncovered potential evidence, prompting a full-scale excavation involving Sheriff’s Office detectives, DCI agents, crime scene analysts, crime lab personnel, and a forensic anthropologist. In total, investigators removed and processed some 500 five-gallon buckets of dirt by hand…the equivalent of around 30,000 pounds of soil…which was then sifted by hand, searched, and items of interest collected for processing. The operation was described as “manpower-intensive”, with the excavation completed entirely with hand tools.
All evidence recovered during the process will be submitted to specialized laboratories for detailed analysis which, according to the release, could take from several months up to over a year.
Anyone with information related to the case is encouraged to contact Detective Tyler Tikkanen at 920-929-3384, or to submit an anonymous tip to the Fond du Lac County Tip Line at 920-906-4777.
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