New evidence obtained in Behrman search

Investigators from a number of law enforcement agencies completed another search of the Salt Creek area near Lake Monroe last week. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bloomington Police Department, Monroe Sheriff's Department and other agencies all collaborated in attempt to recover more evidence pertaining to Jill Behrman's disappearance more than two years ago.\nInvestigators may return to the area soon.\n"We're done for the time being, but we will be returning," said Doug Garrison, spokesman for the FBI. "We just don't know when yet."\nAuthorities said they found useful evidence during last week's search, but have not revealed specific details about any items obtained or conclusions to be drawn from them. But authorities stressed the usefulness of the materials.\n"We are still evaluating what we found the other day," Garrison said. "What we found can confirm what we thought all along."\nThe circumstances regarding Behrman's disappearance have been slow to emerge over the past two years. But investigators now believe a clearer picture is starting to form.\n"Everything that has been reported so far has been pretty much accurate," Garrison said.\nBehrman disappeared May 31, 2000 during a bicycle ride in the southern part of Bloomington. Her bicycle was recovered 10 miles away in an Ellettsville cornfield later the same day, but the location of the IU student is still a mystery.\nSoon after her disappearance, the Bloomington community and IU officials established a reward that now amounts to $100,000 for information leading to her location or the identities of those involved in her disappearance. Thousands of tips have been received by investigators since Behrman's disappearance.\nIn April of 2001, the FBI announced a theory claiming that Behrman may have been accidentally struck by a vehicle and her disappearance was the result of a cover-up on the part of those who struck her.\nA year later, Uriah Clouse, 26, of Monroe County was named as a suspect by authorities. He is serving time in the Brown County jail for the attempted abduction of an 18-year-old woman in Ellettsville, Ind., two weeks after Behrman's disappearance in 2000. Police said at the time that his alibi "doesn't stick." Police have other suspects also connected to Behrman's disappearance in custody, but no information has been released about their identities. No charges have been filed.\nIn May, authorities investigated an incident in Bowling Green, Ky., 200 miles from Bloomington, that bore striking similarities to this theory. A male driver knocked a female cyclist from her bicycle and then attempted to abduct her, but the woman escaped.\nIn June, authorities announced their belief that an older construction pickup truck was involved in the case, and that it may have been used without the owner's consent. The truck has still not been located.\nDive efforts at the Salt Creek site originally began in April of this year, but high waters forced authorities to abandon their efforts until last week. Salt Creek is not the only potential source of information authorities are investigating.\n"We are pursuing a number of other leads, part of them based on what we found the other day, part from other information," Garrison said. "We still have leads and we are still pursuing them"