UPDATE: Authorities say bones found in abandoned Deuel County well were not human remains

November 30, 2020
Mike Tanner

CLEAR LAKE, S.D.–Investigators looking into the disappearance of a Watertown woman missing for 19 years say bones found in a well that was excavated earlier this month were NOT human remains.

Deuel County Sheriff Cory Borg said in a press release issued today (Monday) that the remains were identified as deer or cattle bones.

The remains were dug up nearly 30 feet below ground level on November 3rd from a well at an abandoned farmstead northeast of Clear Lake.

They were identified through forensic testing done in South Dakota, and at a lab in Manhattan, Kansas.

Authorities were directed there through a tip into the disappearance of Pamela Dunn.

Dunn went missing from Watertown on December 10, 2001.

An acquaintance–David Asmussen–was convicted in October 2006 by a Codington County jury of kidnapping Dunn, and is serving a life prison sentence.

Borg says the search for Dunn continues, and authorities will follow up on any and all leads they receive.

Anyone with information on the Pamela Dunn case is asked to contact Watertown police at 605-882-6210.