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This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.

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Body of Missing Woman May Be Buried Beneath Restaurant

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Photo by MizGingerSnaps via Flickr

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Excavation began yesterday in Lomita at the Thyme Contemporary Cafe, which is owned by David Viens, as authorities look for the body of Viens' wife Dawn, missing for 16 months. Officials say they expect the dig to take some time, according to LA Now, and they believe she is buried beneath the property.When David Viens hurled himself off a cliff side in Rancho Palos Verdes last week, he was fleeing from the authorities, who finally went public after months of investigating with word he was considered a prime suspect in his wife's murder. However, without a body, the murder charge is hard to make stick, and though David Viens was arrested at the hospital after he survived the jump, Los Angeles County Sheriff's detectives are intent on locating the remains.

When Dawn Viens disappeared in October 2009, David Viens did not go immediately to the authorities. After eventually reporting her missing, Viens "remodeled the cafe, adding new floors and walls that investigators now believe may be concealing his wife’s body."

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