Authorities search for body in concrete floor of pole barn

The mother of a missing woman hopes her daughter's body can be found.
BLANCHESTER, Ohio (AP) -- A woman whose daughter has been missing since 1996 watched as authorities ripped up the concrete floor of a pole barn Friday to search for a body.
Numerous broadcast reports said the FBI and deputy sheriffs from two counties were searching for the body of Clarissa Ann Culberson, 22.
Brown County Sheriff Dwayne Wenninger declined to confirm whether the search was for Culberson. A ceremony that had been scheduled to dedicate a memorial in Culberson's honor on Friday was postponed, and instead several family members and friends gathered in the rain to watch the search of the metal storage shed.
"I know she's no longer alive. I just want to find her," said Debbie Culberson, the missing woman's mother. "I want to give her the Christian burial she deserves."
"People who haven't been through this can't understand. It won't be over until we find Carrie."
Search goes on
Authorities searched the site Thursday, spent about 10 hours excavating Friday and planned to return today with a dog trained to locate cadavers.
The concrete floor in about two-thirds of the 30-foot-by-40-foot structure had been excavated when Friday's search ended about 7 p.m., Wenninger said.
Although her body was never found, "Carrie" Culberson's former boyfriend, Vincent Doan, was convicted in 1997 on charges of kidnapping and aggravated murder and is serving a life prison sentence.
The village of Blanchester agreed to pay Culberson's family $2 million to settle a lawsuit that accused the village and former police Chief Richard Payton of bungling the investigation.
A jury ruled that Payton erred when he decided not to search a junkyard pond on Sept. 3, 1996, after police dogs indicated they had picked up the woman's scent. Sheriff's deputies drained the pond the next day and found no evidence of the body.
Doan's half brother, Tracey Baker, was convicted of obstructing justice and is serving an eight-year sentence.
Payton pleaded no contest to two charges of dereliction of duty in connection with the investigation of Culberson's disappearance.
Mother's words
Debbie Culberson said she was at the scene because a friend, rather than authorities, told her of the search.
"We've waited for this moment for seven years," she said. "Should this be Carrie ... that's what we want. If it's not Carrie, we'll continue our search."
Wenninger said a search warrant had been served but declined to confirm any details. The warrant had been sealed since being issued Wednesday by Brown County Municipal Court Judge Thomas Zachman, the sheriff said.
Blanchester is a village of about 4,200 people, 40 miles northeast of Cincinnati.