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Sources: Authorities dig for possible bodies in wooded area in Macomb Township

Bodies may be tied to convicted child killer Arthur Nelson Ream

MACOMB TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Law enforcement from several jurisdictions executed a search and dig Monday in a wooded area in Macomb Township. 

The dig site is near 23 Mile Road and North Avenue. The FBI is providing resources to Warren police. 

Authorities dig behind an abandoned home in Macomb Township on May 7, 2018. (WDIV)
Authorities dig behind an abandoned home in Macomb Township on May 7, 2018. (WDIV)

Sources say the search is for multiple bodies which may have been buried by convicted child killer Arthur Nelson Ream.

Ream was convicted in the murder of 13-year-old Cindy Zarzycki, who went missing April 20, 1986. Zarzycki had planned to meet Ream, who is the father of a boy she knew, at a Dairy Queen on 9 Mile Road near her home in Eastpointe.

Arthur Nelson Ream in 2017 (Michigan Department of Corrections)
Cindy Zarzycki

Zarzycki's remains were found in 2008 in a field near 23 Mile Road and North Avenue. At the time, Ream already was imprisoned for raping a 15-year-old girl. He led investigators to the shallow grave where he buried Zarzycki. 

He is serving a life sentence at Michigan's Earnest C. Brooks Correctional Facility in Muskegon Heights. 

In a 2009 report by WDIV, Ream is shown admitting to investigators that he killed Zarzycki. 

"Oh I'd never give up on myself. I'm just saying that, you know, my life is over," he said. "It's just like with Cindy, the next day, you know, I knew what I did was wrong ... I can't make up for the wrong I've done."

At the time, Ream was not telling investigators where Zarzycki was buried. But he contacted them saying he had something to share. Still, it took some investigative technique to get him to describe where the body was buried. 

Finally, Ream became upset during the interview after investigators said no one cared where the girl was buried because they all had closure. 

"How can they have closure? I don't even have closure," he said. 

Watch the interview here: 


About the Authors
Karen Drew headshot

Karen Drew is the anchor of Local 4 News First at 4, weekdays at 4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. She is also an award-winning investigative reporter.

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