The interim Police Chief of the Rochester Police Department says that an extensive search of the house and backyard at 27 Rowley Street has been completed, and no additional human remains have been found.
Mike Ciminelli briefed reporters Friday night after the search was completed, with reports of a backhoe being used on the grounds of that house earlier in the day. This news comes after the owner of the property, a local psychiatrist, Dr. William Lewek, was charged with tampering with physical evidence and criminal possession of a controlled substance.
Police found the body of 31 year old Matthew Straton on Wednesday night in the backyard. Straton had been reported missing in late October, and Lewek is accused of removing Straton's body from a third floor bedroom at about that time, placing it in the backyard, and hiding it with dirt, grass and a patio chair. The drug charge is because officers this week say they recovered 17 small bags of crack cocaine from the house.
Ciminelli says the extensive search of the house is standard protocol in cases like this. The cause of Straton's death has not been determined yet.
