Cadaver dogs trained to smell death through water alert authorities in search of Oklahoma pond

Cherokee Nation divers efforts to find the remains of a missing Arkansas woman were hampered on Friday after encountering cave-like rocky terrain at the pond's bottom.

CRAIG COUNTY, Okla. — Cherokee Nation divers efforts to find the remains of a missing Arkansas woman were hampered on Friday after encountering cave-like rocky terrain at the pond's bottom.

"I was disappointed," said McDonald County Cold Case Detective Lori Howard after the eight-hour search.

Howard declined to release the name of the missing woman but did say investigators believe she may have been bound with barbed wire.

Cadaver dogs hit three areas inside a quarry pond. Still, when divers with sonar equipment descended 40 feet into the pond, they discovered the pond had cave-like and rocky structures, which made the investigation or looking for remains or evidence difficult, she said.

Two cadaver dogs, one specialized in locating cadavers in water and the other on land, were on the scene since 6:30 a.m. Around mid-morning, divers began searching the 33-acre pond east of Vinita, where the dogs hit on cadaver scent.

This is the third search of two ponds in the quarry strip pit in the past month. Howard said Friday’s hits were the exact location as the dogs hit during a pond search in June.

What piqued the interest of investigators from three states in the two ponds is that several conditional informants shared information with detectives Talfey Reeves may be involved.

Talfey was recently implicated in the death of 22-year-old Shauna Beth Garber Harvey. Her badly decomposed remains were found near an abandoned farmhouse in rural McDonald County in Dec. 1990.

Talfey, 58, of Pineville, died from injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident on Nov. 15, 2021.

An earlier discovery of a mud-encased VHS tape was found last month. Howard said the tape had been sent to the FBI Academy, the laboratory Division in Quantico, VA, for review.

Persons with information are encouraged to call the McDonald County Sheriff’s Office at (417) 223-4319.