Day-long search of child porn suspects' Shelton property, property deemed unsafe

SHELTON, Wash. — The searches are the talk of this rural Shelton neighborhood.  Most people say they never saw anyone at this house.  But at least one neighbor remembers the Emery brothers as the much older kids on the block.

"We used to play right in here," said Gary Holt.

Holt is 70 now and his memory is fading, but he vividly recalls this property that belongs to the Emery family as a playground of sorts when he grew up here. He remembers, too, the older brothers who lived here.

"And they were big guys," he said. "I mean really big, a lot of pec you know."

Holt stood across the street from the house as detectives and cadaver dogs scoured the overgrown property for evidence.

The brothers, Charles, Thomas and Edwin, are elderly now, but all three are accused of collectin and producing child pornography for decades.  They hoarded evidence in this house, but especially in the house near Seattle's Green Lake where they have lived more than a half century.

Charles allegedly wrote about murdering female children.  That has detectives also searching for evidence in the 2009 disappearance of 10-year-old Lindsey Baum. She lived just 12 miles from here.

Neighbor Jacobsen worked with Lindsey's mother back then.

"So it's been pretty close to home," said April Jacobsen. "I've been following that story."

Jacobsen had just given birth to her own daughter when Lindsey vanished.

"I know there's not a clear connection yet," she said.

"Does it give you hope at all, though?" she was asked.

"It does," she said.   "But it's kind of scary to think how close it could be to where I live."

The lead investigator says the property is so large, the woods so thick, they are concerned for the safety of detectives.  Some buildings on the property are in such a state of disrepair, they are worried they might fall.  Indeed, one building will likely have to be demolished to be searched.

This investigation, he says, is far from over.

Cox Media Group