COLON (WTVB) - There was another search this week for the body of Bronson High School graduate Venus Stewart. Police, acting on a tip, and hoping that lower than usual water levels in the St. Joseph River near Colon might reveal something that had not been seen before, put a cadaver dog to work, but found nothing. The family still conducts weekly searches of their own, hoping to find the spot where estranged husband Doug Stewart used his Walmart shovel to bury her body.  Stewart is serving life for her disappearance and presumed death 2-1/2 years ago.  He has appealed his conviction and a hearing on that appeal is scheduled for early next month.

The family still has hopes that Stewart will tell them where to find the body, but if he does, it would be like admitting guilt and end any chance of winning his appeals.