UPDATE | May 18, 2023 | 2:05 p.m.: It seems that a cold case from 1998 will continue to remain a mystery.Â
James Sweeten was married to Peggy Sweeten, a special education teacher from Grove, Oklahoma when she vanished in 1998.Â
James became a person of interest in the missing case of his former wife.Â
James eventually moved to Welasco, Texas with his second wife, Debra Hammond, who was also a teacher from another district.Â
GROVE, Okla. — The first promising lead in the search for a Delaware County school teacher missing since 1998 came up empty Monday, but investigators said they aren't done searching the property and the water next to the Grand Lake home she disappeared from 25 years ago.
Monday, multiple law enforcement agencies in Delaware County worked together to pull up a large barrel near the dock adjacent to the home Peggy Sweeten lived in when she disappeared.
Last month, divers found what they believed could be a barrel that held Sweeten's remains under 15 feet of water. The barrel was similar in size and description to a 55-gallon drum that Sweeten's son said also disappeared at the same time his mother did.
Recovery crews raised the barrel Monday morning, but it was so old it broke apart while they were raising it to the surface. After they raised up large pieces of the barrel, divers extensively scoured the water and the lakebed around the barrel to make sure nothing was missed.
FOX23 is told no human remains were found, but investigators are not done searching the property and are still exploring many options as to what could have happened to Sweeten and where her remains could be.
In case anything that could be considered human remains were found, the State Medical Examiner's Office was on site examining anything that was pulled up.
FOX23 is told while the barrel raised was similar in size, it is so badly deteriorated, it's not clear if the barrel is the specific 55-gallon drum reported missing from the Sweeten property in 1998.
In 1998, James Sweeten, who is currently a person of interest in the case, told police his wife ran away with another man she met on the internet, but Peggy did not have an email address and had never used email to communicate with anyone.
During the investigation, the couple's son, Patrick, reported a 55-gallon drum had suddenly disappeared from his parent's property the same time Peggy disappeared.
When questioned about it, James simply said he didn't know what happened to it.
Sweeten's family was on site hoping Monday would be the day Peggy was found, but they left disappointed. Investigators said they are more determined than ever to solve this case once and for all, and they will meet soon to figure out which leads they should chase down next.
