WINCHESTER, Ky. (LEX 18) — Volunteers may have discovered a new lead in the cold case of a missing woman in Winchester.
Jane Bousley disappeared in October 2001. She was last seen leaving a Clark County hair salon in a silver sedan. Searches in the decades since have never turned up any clues.
Graham Barrineau and Brian Hutton volunteer their time as divers to search for missing people. Their organization is called "Diving for Hope". They spent Friday in the murky Kentucky River.
"Our main mission is just to bring closure to families and bring people back home that's missing," Barrineau said.
Barrineau said family members told them Bousley had gotten lost along the Kentucky River once before, and they thought maybe it had happened again, and perhaps she'd crashed into the river. That's why they ran their SONAR equipment through the water.
"We dropped down in the first spot and got a SONAR ping on a vehicle," he said.
It's promising, but that's where the hard work really starts.
"Today's conditions were pretty rough. Water temperature is a little under 40 degrees. It's 39, or right at 40. Very cold. We have dry suits to keep ourselves warm. Another big thing right now is it's pretty muddy. There's no visibility whatsoever there at the bottom where we did locate that vehicle. Everything was by feel. Couldn't see your own hand in front of your face, just pitch black darkness," Barrineau said.
The current in the water today was a bit too much. They've pulled back for the day, but they were able to bring a piece of that vehicle to the surface. They're working along with the Clark County Sheriff's Office and Bousley's family, hoping to figure out whether the vehicle they found could be the one Bousley was driving, bringing them one step closer to solving the mystery.
"We're going to try to come back when the water level's lower, little bit warmer, current is down. Hopefully we'll recover the vehicle and bring it out of the water and bring Jane back home," Barrineau said.
