Rob Walcutt said a simple knock on a door was the “trigger” that set into motion actions which led to the discovery of Elaine Sepulveda’s body, the arrest of a suspect, and the end of a two-month-old mystery.

Police uncovered the body of 15-year-old Sepulveda early Friday morning in a shallow grave behind a home on SE Sixth Avenue. They arrested 18-year-old high school student James Sanders on suspicion of killing the girl.

Walcutt is executive director of the Laura Recovery Group, a Texas-based organization that helps families nationwide find missing children. He said he and Brad Dennis from the Klaas Kids, a similar non-profit search group, have been in touch with Sepulveda’s family, Mary and Juan Jimenez, since just after she disappeared Nov. 6.

Walcutt and Dennis came to Oak Harbor last week, at the family’s request, to organize additional searches for Sepulveda. They planned to begin searches of the woods off Regatta Drive Friday morning.

But on Thursday, the two men decided to knock on the door of Ted and Jenny Duris’ home on SE Sixth Avenue. They are the grandparents of the suspect. Walcutt said Sepulveda’s family urged them to go to the house because of rumors they heard of Sanders digging around in the compost heap in the backyard.

Walcutt said a woman answered the door. They asked if they could look in the backyard, but she refused.

But later that day, Walcutt got a phone call from police saying that Ted Duris wanted to talk to them.

According to Rick Wallace with the Oak Harbor Police Dept., Sgt. Jerry Baker had a “fairly honest rapport” with Duris. After the two men knocked on his door, Duris called Baker and asked who they were. Baker told him the men were with legitimate and represented highly-regarded organizations.

As a result, Walcutt and Dennis returned to the home. Walcutt said both Dennis and Duris are retired master chief petty officers from the Navy, which “helped break the ice.” Walcutt said Duris gave them permission to search a compost pile and junk heap in his backyard.

According to Walcutt, he and Dennis poked around the area and decided they needed to return the next day with cadaver-sniffing dogs. Duris agreed.

Wallace said Duris called his grandson, James Sanders, that night to tell him that the compost piles was going to be searched. Duris asked his grandson if there was “anything he should know,” Wallace said. Sanders denied that he knew anything about Sepulveda’s disappearance. But later that night, Sanders contacted his grandfather again and claimed that he had accidentally killed the girl and then buried her in the compost pile, Wallace said. Duris then called the police.

Based on this new information, the police arrested Sanders on suspicion of second-degree murder and began a painstaking search of the junk pile, which is shared between two neighbors.

The police found a small body, which they believe is that of Sepulveda, at about 5 a.m. Friday. She was rolled into a fetal position within the shallow grave.

Wallace also credits Walcutt and Dennis for providing the “turning point” in the investigation. He said detectives had not searched or asked to search the compost pile previously, although they knew of its existence.

According to Wallace, the police didn’t want to ask for permission to search the area because of the possibility that they would be refused. He said that would have clued the killer into the fact that they had suspicions about the area and it would have given him a chance to dispose of evidence.

“If we asked for permission and they said ‘no,’” Wallace said, “then we were going to have to watch the property all the time. We don’t have the manpower for that kind of stuff.”

Prosecutors have until 4:30 p.m. today to formally charge Sanders. Wallace said the autopsy on the body was completed over the weekend, but the results haven’t been released yet.

You can reach Jessie Stensland at jstensland@whidbeynewstimes.com or 675-6611.