Scott Kimball is leading investigators to bodies. Partly mummified bones thought to be those of his uncle, Terry Kimball, were discovered Monday in a remote Rocky Mountain pass near Vail, Colorado. DNA tests are pending to confirm the victim's identity, and the cause of death is pending a forensic examination, authorities said. Kimball will also serve a 70-month federal sentence on firearms charges after the state sentence. The firearms charges led to Kimball's 18th conviction.
Terry Kimball is one of several suspected homicide victims associated with Scott Kimball since his jailing in 2008. He is serving a 48-year sentence in state prison in Fairplay, Colorado, on theft and habitual criminal convictions. Sources with knowledge of the cases said Kimball's December 2008 plea to theft and habitual criminal charges, and the 48-year sentence, was part of a deal that included revealing the locations of the bodies. Authorities wanted to give victims' families resolution. Without his cooperation, authorities doubt they have enough evidence to convict him.
Earlier this year, Kimball revealed where the remains thought to be his uncle's were, according to law enforcement sources close to the case. However, the search was delayed until snow had melted. Terry Kimball, 60 at the time, was last seen with Scott Kimball in September 2004, according to a 2007 federal search warrant affidavit. Scott Kimball told his wife that his uncle had won the lottery and left for Mexico with a stripper, the affidavit said, but FBI investigators think Kimball killed his uncle and dumped his body in Vail Pass, more than 100 miles from the home they shared in a Denver suburb.