JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The remains of Susan Mauldin, a 65-year-old Fleming Island woman who’s been missing since October, were found during a search of a Georgia landfill, sources confirmed to News4Jax.
The discovery was made as a team of local, state and federal investigators recently wrapped up a multi-week search of a baseball diamond-sized area at Chesser Island Road Landfill in Charlton County.
On Friday, the FBI announced that the extensive search “yielded several items of interest” in the investigation into Mauldin’s disappearance. An FBI spokesperson said those items are now undergoing testing but did not confirm that Mauldin’s remains had been found.
An attorney for Corey Binderim, a contractor hired by Mauldin who is considered a person of interest in the case, acknowledged that he has been in contact with detectives, but said he has no further comment.
Little information was immediately released.
Investigators from the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, State Attorney’s Office and FBI began searching the landfill Jan. 21. The search, which entailed 12-hour shifts, involved about 40 personnel at any given time. It’s unclear what led the investigation to zero in on the landfill.
Mauldin has been missing a little longer than three months. She has not been seen or heard from since Oct. 23. Neighbors have told investigators and local media that Mauldin’s disappearance is suspicious because she would not have left town without first telling someone.
“Maybe now we can get justice,” neighbor Janet Anderson told News4Jax. “If they have her body, I am hoping she will let them know who did this.”
Added friend Jane Rhome: “(I’m) excited the case is going to be moving on and that hopefully, we will have justice for Susan, and that the responsible party will pay the price for this.”
Binderim, 45, a contractor hired to install tiles at Mauldin’s home, has been identified as a person of interest in the case. He is being held at the Duval County jail on a forgery charge unrelated to the woman’s disappearance. Jail logs on Friday showed a Clay County hold for Binderim, suggesting that additional charges are pending.
“We know that for eight months, (Binderim) led her on," a neighbor told News4Jax. "He took her money. He said he was going to do the work and he didn’t do it. He would say he was going to come and get the work done or come and see her and he wouldn’t show up. And so, we were concerned about the fact that he was taking her for a ride and she was very upset about it.”
The Chesser Island Road Landfill is the same landfill the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office searched for the body of Joleen Cummings in 2018 without success. It’s also where Clay County Sheriff’s Office detectives found the body of 7-year-old Somer Thompson in 2009.
