A search long considered unlikely
FREMONT LAKE, WY — Teams searching Fremont Lake say they have found a rusted oil drum on the lakebed in a case tied to the 1980 murders of Virginia Uden and her two sons, Richard and Reagan. The discovery came during the first major effort in more than a decade to locate the family’s remains.
Bill Dohse, who leads the nonprofit Organized Search and Rescue, said the mission began with little certainty and a lot of skepticism. But the sonar hit on the barrel gave the crew reason to keep going.
How the killings were described
Gerald Uden, Virginia Uden’s ex-husband, later confessed in court that he killed her and the boys at a rural crossroads near Pavilion on Sept. 12, 1980. He said he shot each of them during what he said was a hunting trip and then hid the bodies before moving them into barrels.
Uden told investigators the drums were sealed and weighted so they would sink in Fremont Lake. Earlier searches in 2013 and 2014 did not turn up anything, feeding years of doubt about whether his account was reliable.
Why the barrel stands out
The newly found drum sits about 388 feet below the surface, and search leaders say that depth does not rule it out as the one Uden described. They note that barrels can drift after being dropped and that decades passed before he gave his version of events.
John Linn of Sublette County Tip Top Search and Rescue said he once believed Uden was misleading investigators, but the latest find has made him reconsider. Still, Sheriff K.C. Lehr said the group has found only a barrel for now, not proof that the case is solved.
Letters reopened the case
The renewed search traces back in part to letters from prison. Stacy Koester of WyoFind Search, Rescue and Recovery began corresponding with Uden and eventually pressed him for more detail about where the bodies might be.
Koester said Uden first denied involvement, then admitted the killings and offered new location details that were passed along to Dohse. After reviewing that information with his board, Dohse decided to commit crew and equipment to the lake search.
Recovery still needs work
Finding the drum is only the first step. OSAR says extracting it will require a custom underwater recovery system, along with coordination from state agencies reviewing the plan.
Supporters of the effort say the goal is not just recovery but burial. If the remains are found, a gravesite has already been arranged in Glendo, and searchers say the work carries a larger message about persistence and dignity for the dead.
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