Search For Missing Boy's Body Comes Up Empty

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (WJZ)-- Montgomery County Police spent the day Sunday searching the woods for the body of an 11-year-old boy missing ever since his mother was found murdered last week.

Andrea Fujii has details on where police were searching and why.

Police will only say investigative information led them to search two parks in Montgomery County-- one in Damascus, the other in Clarksburg.

Teams of police officers, volunteers and even cadaver dogs searched the woods in Damascus Regional Park all Sunday. They're following the latest lead in the disappearance of 11-year-old William McQuain.

His mother, 51-year-old Jane McQuain, was found beaten and stabbed to death in their Germantown home Wednesday night. The boy's stepfather, Curtis Lopez, was arrested in North Carolina and charged with the murder. But 11-year-old William McQuain hasn't been seen in weeks.

"We still have the investigation open that has hope that William will be found alive," said Capt. Paul Starks of the Montgomery County Police. "However, detectives cannot ignore bona-fide information that is causing them to be here today."

Police won't say where that information came from, only that nearly 80 people spent the day searching the hundreds upon hundreds of acres of woods in the two parks for the little boy's body, finding nothing.

Police may not know yet whether William McQuain is still alive or if his body is in these woods or somewhere else. But they say they do expect answers soon.

William McQuain's friends and coaches are worried sick. A police search for his body was not what they were hoping for.

"Doesn't look good. The situation just doesn't look good," said one person.

News of the search is heartbreaking to those who live in the neighborhood surrounding Damascus Regional Park.

"The path goes right to our house," Lori Stegeman explained. "My daughter and I took the dogs out and we were just like heartbroken imagining if we found something, what would we do and how horrible. It's just horrible."

Some of Jane McQuain's friends also organized their own search of the neighborhood and the woods near her Germantown home.

While the search for young William McQuain continues, so does the criminal case against his stepfather. Lopez goes before a judge on Monday in North Carolina. At issue-- his extradition to Maryland.

Police say they found nothing significant in their search on Sunday. They may search the parks again on Monday.