Update (11/6/09 3:16pm)
According to the Pike County Prosecutor and Sheriff, the FBI has joined the investigation, They said in a press conference Friday they are searching for the remains of Patrick King, who went missing in 1995. A canine came up with the smell of possible human remains on Kerry Thomas' property on Meridian Road. Investigators have been digging on Thomas' property since Tuesday. Authorities are suspicious of the concrete inside his home, which is apparently thicker than normal.
They are carefully chipping away at the concrete with a small pike shovel. Officials say they will work until they find something or are absolutely certain nothing is there.
Officials wouldn't dicuss the relationship between King and Thomas, but they believe if Thomas is responsible for the murder of Patrick King, he did not act alone.
Watch Fox 7 News at 6 for more.


Previously Reported:

The Pike County Prosecutor and Sheriff are holding a news conference at 2:15 p.m. CST to release updated in formation in this case.

Earlier today (Friday 11/6) Pike County Sheriff Todd Meadors told Fox 7 News another search warrant has been issued. He says it for the same building at Kerry Thomas's house on Meridian Road just a different area they are digging in Friday. He says they are also still looking inside the house. Police are seeking the remains of Patrick King. King went missing in 1995 and Sheriff Meadors believes he was murdered. He says Pike County Sheriff's Department and Petersburg Police could be digging for several more days.

Update:

Orville Skinner has lived in Pike County since 1959, and just a few houses down Meridian Road is the home of his neighbor, Kerry Thomas.

"He didn't seem like that type of person, talking to him, he seemed like a very nice person. He talked to me as Mr. Skinner, and Mr. Skinner this," Orville Skinner said.

Thomas was arrested Sunday morning. Deputies got a search warrant and started digging up his yard, after he allegedly threatened to blow up the Pike County Courthouse if a jury found him guilty.

"I never thought of him as a person to threaten to blow up the courthouse or anything like that," Skinner said.

Even though police found explosives, they are apparently looking for more. According to the probable cause affidavit, the search warrant authorized police to search places where human remains, DNA, or a belt buckle could be located. Pike County Chief Deputy Jeremy Britton says Thomas had the material in his home to carry out the threat.

"People make threats all the time. Sometimes they mean them and sometimes they don't and this is just one you can't overlook," Chief Deputy Jeremy Britton said.

Britton says Thomas was living and working here as a machinist. He says there's all kinds of compartments in the home and a false basement, areas they still want to look at.

Pike County Deputies worked all through the night, and Wednesday working inside the home, looking to see if they can find any more explosives.

"Especially when you have a comment like if the verdict doesn't go his way in his trial that he's going to blow up the courthouse and from what we've found that's definitely possible and it could've been done," Britton said.

Thomas remains in the Pike County Jail. He is due in court November 14th.


Previous Report:

We now know what officials in Pike County were looking for as they dug up a man's yard and basement.
They were looking for explosives, and the Prosecutor's Office says they found some.
Police have been digging at a home on Meridian Drive near the community of Arthur for a couple of days.
They say the man living there, Kerry Thomas, had made threats that he was going to blow up the Pike County Courthouse if a jury found him guilty.
The Prosecutor's Office says investigators found blasting caps, detonation cords, and cast boosters in the home.
Thomas was scheduled to go on trial today in Pike Circuit Court.
He now faces other charges including unlawful possession of a destructive device.
Thomas is in the Pike County Jail.

Click the icon below to look at documents pertaining to the investigation.