Pam Butler's remains unrecoverable along I-95 in Virginia, family says

STAFFORD COUNTY, Va. - The body of Pamela Butler, a D.C. woman whose boyfriend pleaded guilty to killing and abducting in 2009, is unrecoverable from Interstate 95 in Stafford County, detectives told her family on Friday.

Authorities were searching along the interstate Friday morning her boyfriend, Jose Rodriguez-Cruz, told investigators where he disposed of her body as part of a plea deal.

Virginia State Police joined Stafford County sheriff's deputies and D.C. police to search a wooded area along the I-95 corridor, specifically focusing on a portion close to the Garrisonville exit. They closed the I-95 express lanes in that area for a period of time during the search.

"He told me that one cadaver dog hit on several spots where Pam's body was supposed to be and the other cadaver dog didn't hit at all," Pam Butler's brother Derrick Butler explained. "He believes that Pam's body is there but exactly where they don't know."

"I don't think we're going to find her," he continued.

Jose Rodriguez-Cruz was not allowed to be at the search site due to a court order barring him from leaving the District.

Pamela Butler, a 47-year-old computer specialist who worked for the EPA, vanished from her northwest D.C. home in February 2009. Rodriguez-Cruz wasn't arrested until April of this year, eight years after Pamela Butler's disappearance.

Rodriguez-Cruz allegedly told police and prosecutors he buried her body along I-95 in Virginia after he admitted to killing her during an argument in the basement of her home. He reportedly agreed to tell investigators where Pamela Butler's body was for a sentence of 12 years in prison.