Cold case investigators find no evidence at Largo property once owned by man connected to 3 missing women

A cold case tip led Pinellas detectives to Largo, near the Pinellas Trail, where excavation work began Wednesday morning.

LARGO, Fla. - Detectives with Pinellas County’s cold case unit continue to search for answers in the 1982 disappearance of Retha Hiers after a week-long excavation at a property once owned by a man connected to Hiers and two other missing women failed to produce any evidence linked to the case.

Investigators say an anonymous tip led them to dig up the property at 1201 Gooden Crossing in Largo. It was slated to be a Habitat for Humanity site and used to be owned by Cleveland Hill Jr. Hill, a man who was a suspect in Hiers' disappearance, and that of two other women.

Hill died in 2018 at the age of 70 and has always maintained his innocence.

The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office says it is continuing to investigate Hiers’ disappearance.