Mother of Kentucky woman abducted in 1995 hopes suspect's exhumation will bring closure

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Thirty years after Heather Teague vanished from a Kentucky beach, her mother said she's never stopped fighting for answers — and new developments are now reshaping the decades-old mystery.

Teague was abducted Aug. 26, 1995, while sunbathing on Newburgh Beach in Henderson County, Kentucky.

"I don't think I'm doing anything that any other mother wouldn't do," Sarah Teague said Thursday.

For years, suspicion has surrounded Marty Dill, a Henderson County man who died by suicide before police could question him. This week, Kentucky State Police confirmed Dill's body was exhumed to collect DNA.

"This exhumation was prompted by Ramsey Dallam, the special prosecutor," Teague said. "It was a huge step when she removed Heather's bathing suit bottoms from Kentucky State Police. She let me know she's not an investigator (and) only gets involved when there's something to prosecute."

Those bathing suit bottoms are now being tested by a private lab, according to Teague. But she still has doubts about Dill's alleged involvement.

"If what Tim Walthall, the eyewitness, saw when he described a man 6 foot, 210-230 pounds with dark bushy hair and a beard and a potbelly — if what he saw was true, there is no way," Teague said. "... Marty Dill doesn't match that description. Marty was 5-10, 180 pounds, bald and buff."

Heather Teague's case was the focus of a WDRB investigation in 2018. According to FBI documents, a witness claimed Dill was growing marijuana on his property when state police surrounded his trailer and the witness claimed Dill reportedly died by suicide because he didn't want to go back to prison.

"Heather was brave. She stood up for what she saw as a confidential informant," Teague said. "Heather's abduction is strongly linked to drugs, prostitution, public corruption and a strip club. Heather went to a judge about underage girls and prostitution."

Heavily redacted FBI records suggest more than one person may have been involved in Heather Teague's disappearance, and she may have been preparing to enter the witness protection program over a case tied to drugs and corruption.

"There was another person that Kentucky State Police went to on July 7 to get his DNA," Teague said Thursday. "So now that they've exhumed Marty's body, there is no doubt there is viable DNA found on Heather's bathing suit bottoms."

State police asked to take on LMPD investigations has checkered track record with transparency

SUNDAY EDITION | Kentucky woman battles state police for answers about daughter’s abduction

Scholarship formed in honor of missing woman