Forensics team still working at Ely farm

ELY - A forensics search team was still working Friday afternoon outside a home in rural Ely that appears to be part of a missing persons investigation, but what - if anything - it has discovered remains a mystery.

It was unclear how much longer the team from the University of Indianapolis would be at 397 Nederhiser Road at the request of law enforcement,

'I can confirm they are working there today, but I can't speak to the future,” said Scott Hall, media relations director for the university.

As The Gazette and KCRG-TV9 first reported Thursday, the search appears to be connected to the disappearance of 51-year-old James Booher of Marion, who was last seen on May 31, 2014, in Cedar Rapids.

His disappearance is being treated as a homicide, but no charges in his death have been announced.

Marion police said this week they are helping with a federal drug-related homicide investigation. Police Chief Harry Daugherty said Friday the investigation is ongoing but declined to provide details.

According to federal court documents, 42-year-old Matthew B. Robbins was a former resident of the farmhouse where the search is being conducted.

Robbins could have been one of the last people to see Booher alive, the court records show, and might have robbed Booher around the time he was last seen.

Robbins currently is in custody at the Linn County Jail awaiting a second trial on federal firearms charges.