FROM THE ASHEVILLE CITIZEN-TIMES 

Investigators are reportedly searching for more murder victims:

Meanwhile, William Dathan Holbert, and his girlfriend, Laura Michelle Reese, accompanied by police officials, were back in Panama on Thursday evening. The couple faces multiple murder charges in connection with the slayings in the coastal province of Bocas del Toro.

The Nicaraguan army apprehended the pair Monday attempting to enter the country illegally via the San Juan River, officials said. Police are still searching for the lawyer who helped Holbert set up business transactions. According to police, Holbert, a suspect in other disappearances in Central America, would lure the victims to his property under the guise of signing legal documents. He would then kill and bury them, police said.

Up to nine bodies were found at Holbert's home, Hacienda Cortez, in the Aguacate community, which is only accessible by boat, reported La Prensa, a daily newspaper in Panama City. Cheryl Hughes, who police believe is a victim of Holbert and Reese, lived on an island near the hacienda. Hughes was one of hundreds of expatriates who lived and worked in the area.

During the investigation into her disappearance, police found Hughes' passport, credit cards and bank account information, as well as an unregistered gun belonging to Holbert, La Prensa reported. It was during the second walkthrough at the crime scene when police found the other bodies buried on the grounds.

Jose Luis Cordales, spokesman for the Panama National Police, said only the remains of Hughes and Bo Icelar, another American, have been identified. Police have yet to determine how they were killed. Investigators have had difficulty identifying the other remains because of advanced stages of decomposition, Cordales said. They hope to use personal items, like rings, found near the bodies to identify the victims.

“Police have found about eight or nine people in the area where he (Holbert) would take people to sign contracts and where he would kill them,” Cordales said in Spanish during an interview Thursday. “He would bury them there.”