With TV helicopters hovering overhead, authorities began an intensive search of the property where John Sohus and Linda Mayfield were living when they disappeared in 1985. Using cadaver-sniffing dogs and ground-penetrating radar, searchers commenced work on Friday, having waited until the start of the holiday weekend in an ill-fated attempt to minimize the disruption of life in the upscale San Marino neighborhood.

The San Gabriel Valley Tribune reported:

The search for clues in the disappearance of John and Linda Sohus led them to two spots in the southeast corner of the backyard of their former home at 1920 Lorain Road, authorities said.

Using concrete saws, shovels, rakes and wheelbarrows, investigators focused on a patch of concrete near a swimming pool…

Meanwhile, suspect Clark Rockefeller remains in a Boston jail, where he is being held on other charges.

Update 8/31/2008: The San Gabriel Valley Tribune, on Saturday’s search results:

The latest search efforts, which began at 6 a.m. Friday and ended at 11:35 a.m. Saturday, focused on two “areas of interest” where investigators dug in the backyard.
     Los Angeles County sheriff’s spokesman Steven Whitmore said efforts were “very productive.”
     “The detectives came and thoroughly, meticulously searched that backyard,” Whitmore said.
     Officials dug holes about 6 feet in diameter and 3-4 feet deep, Whitmore said. One of the areas dug up was buried under concrete.
     He added detectives do not expect to return to the home.