Body Of Father, 52, Believed To Be Killed By Son, 20, Found Buried In Amador County

AMADOR COUNTY (CBS13) — The Amador County Sheriff's Office said they found the body of a 52-year-old man believed to have been killed by his own son.

The body of Pine Grove resident Lance Purdy, 52, was located by deputies just at approximately 4:15 a.m. Saturday morning in a freshly dug grave in Pioneer.

For locals, the news has brought some closure but not justice.

"He should never get out of jail and that's my personal opinion," said Tammy Mckee, of Pine Grove.

The sheriff's office said detectives learned the location of the body after visiting the suspect, the decedent's 20-year-old son Sean Purdy who was arrested in Nevada on Thursday after a 12-hour manhunt, at the Washoe County Jail in Reno on Friday evening and obtaining a confession.

READ: Amador County Man Accused Of Killing Father Arrested In Nevada

Detectives said Sean Purdy gave them the location of the body and confessed to killing his father.

A neighbor who witnessed Sean Purdy fleeing the scene described to local media a house of horrors — a fire pit with the remains of burnt clothes, blood inside and outside the home, and a forged suicide note in the victim's name, which was later identified as Sean Purdy's handwriting.

Brian Clarke described his former classmate, Sean, as a model student-athlete.

"I played baseball with him in middle school for like 3 years and I was on student council with him in middle school too," Clarke said.

Steve Massaro runs a local convenience store and recognized Sean Purdy from his arrest photo.

"He used to come in the store when he was a kid," Massaro said. "He was a good kid, he had a scholarship at UC Santa Clara or something for Rugby and I don't know, people are just going crazy."

Clarke also wonders what went wrong.

"Everyone that was close to the family that I know so far said that there wasn't a motive, that they weren't really fighting or anything," he said. "I don't really know unless something just snapped inside of him."

As the community looks to heal the reason behind a son allegedly killing his father remains a mystery.

"It's just a terrible thing, I don't know how the guy can even live with himself," said Gary Moreira, of Pine Grove. 

Amador County Search and Rescue teams are still searching other areas of the county for evidence connected to the homicide. They wouldn't disclose where they are looking.