DENVER -- Authorities remained tight lipped Friday about the latest developments in a 14-year-old murder mystery, but sources say a possible suspect in the crime is already in custody.

Sources have linked the excavation of a buried car in the tiny Wyoming hamlet of Moneta, 75 miles west of Casper, to the case of Lisa Marie Kimmell (pictured, left), who was bludgeoned, stabbed and sexually assaulted in 1988.

Relatives have been told that a suspect is in custody and the owner of the land where the car was found , Dale Wayne Eaton, 57, is serving a sentence in the federal prison in Englewood, Colo ., for being a felon in possession of a firearm, corrections officials said.

The nude body of the 18-year-old Denver resident was discovered April 2, 1988, south of an old bridge along the North Platte River in Natrona County.

Eight days earlier, Kimmell had been driving from Denver to Cody, Wyo., via Interstate 25 to visit her boyfriend, but never arrived. She had planned to continue from Cody to Billings, Mont., the next day to see her parents.

Her car, a black 1988 Honda CRX with a sunroof and personalized Montana license "LIL MISS" was never found. A massive search also failed to turn up her killer or a murder weapon. The only clue investigators had to go on was DNA evidence collected from the victim.

A dark-color car, believed to be the missing Honda, was dug out of the ground in nearby Fremont County, near an abandoned trailer home Wednesday. It was placed onto a flatbed trailer, covered with a tarp, then driven back to Natrona County by law enforcement officers.

On Wednesday, Natrona County Sheriff Mark Benton and District Attorney Kevin Meenan held a news conference at the dig site, but refused to discuss any aspect of the investigation. Natrona County emergency management officials and County Coroner James Thorpen were also called to the site.

"The Kimmell case is 14 years old. It is an ongoing, and has been an ongoing, and will continue to be an ongoing investigation," said Benton. "It is a homicide and I will not, again, confirm nor deny that what we're doing here has anything to do with the Kimmell case."

Meenan said search warrant obtained for the property has been sealed. He said that the property search likely will continue into next week. He would not elaborate on what other evidence investigators might be looking for, or if they were looking for evidence of other similar crimes.

"It's like the killer buried a key clue (to) the murder," said one investigator familiar with the case. He told TheDenverChannel.com that investigators were examining the vehicle for fingerprints and other forensic evidence.

Land Owner Already In Prison

According to the Fremont County assessor's office, the property where the car was found is owned by Dale Wayne Eaton, 57.

Eaton is serving a three-year sentence at a federal prison in Englewood, Colo., for being a felon in possession of a firearm, corrections officials said.

Investigators will seek a DNA sample from Eaton to compare against the sample taken at the crime scene, a source familiar with the investigation said. That would positively determine if Eaton is implicated in the rape/murder. It was not known how soon that would happen.

In April 1998, Eaton was sentenced in Sweetwater County to a two- to five-year prison sentence for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to Wyoming Corrections Department spokeswoman Melinda Brazzale.

The sentence was suspended and he was placed on five years supervised probation and ordered to a halfway house in Casper.

In June 1998, he escaped from the facility, then was recaptured. In September 1998 his probation was revoked and he was sent to the Wyoming State Penitentiary, Brazzale said.

At the same time he was sentenced to three years by a federal court as a felon in possession of a firearm.

In October 2000, Wyoming officials paroled him and turned him over to federal authorities, she said.

Neighbors Talk About Land Owner

Shirley Widmer, who lives in Waltman, 30 miles east of Moneta, said everybody in the area knows Eaton.

"He used to come over and help my husband and then he went to Utah or Nevada to work in a mine out there," she said Thursday. "He was gone a lot. He wasn't around much. My husband has a salvage yard and he'd help him out there in the salvage yard."

Eaton had left some vehicles with friends who live near Glenrock and authorities last week seized the vehicles and some letters he had written them from prison, Widmer said.

"They came out and took everything, a mechanic's truck, I think, a pickup and a van. They loaded it up and took it all away," she said.

She said Eaton lived in Glenrock before moving to Moneta following a divorce. She said she was uncertain how long he had lived in Moneta.

Victim's Mother Remains Hopeful

The victim's mother, Sheila Kimmell, lives in Lakewood, Colo. and said that she remained cautiously hopeful her daughter's killer will be found.

"Until something is confirmed, all I can do is keep our hopes out there," she said Thursday. "We've been going through this for 13 years. Until police can confirm or deny the information, it's all still speculation."

She said could not comment on reports that a suspect is in custody.

"People are drawing some conclusions that are premature," she said. She would not elaborate.

Victim Was Manager At Arby's

At the time of her death, Lisa Kimmell had been promoted to unit manager for Arby's restaurants, for whom she had worked since she was 14.

She began working at a Denver Arby's in December 1987.

The car was the her first.

TIPS: Anyone with information regarding this case is urged to contact the Natrona County Sheriff's Office at (307) 235-9282 or the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation at (307) 777-7181

Additional Resources:

• The Kimmell Case In Review
• Unsolved Murders In The Casper Area
• Wyoming Unsolved Cases

Previous Stories:

• August 1, 2002: Car Of Denver Murder Victim Uncovered