Independence police find bones; Mother says they may be her children's remains

SUGAR CREEK, Mo. (AP) -- Police looking for two children who have been missing since June 2004 found a shallow grave containing human bones Sunday but would not confirm that the remains were those of the children.

The children's mother, Tina Porter, told The Kansas City Star that police had notified her Sunday morning that the remains of Sam and Lindsey Porter had been found.

But Tom Gentry, a spokesman for the Independence Police Department, said the remains found in one grave in a secluded area had not been identified.

"We want to be very cautious before we make any definitive statements," Gentry said. "Whatever we have to say, we're going to be sure that it's right."

Gentry said if dental records are intact, identification could be made within 24 hours but if dental records can't be used, it would take much longer.

The land where the bones were found is in a wooded, industrial area near Sugar Creek, a small Jackson County town east of Kansas City. Investigators looking for the children had searched the area before.

Gentry said investigators returned to the site for a followup on the case, but declined to to say exactly why they were called to the area. He also had no description of the type of bones found.

The children were 7 and 8 years old when their father, Dan Porter, picked them up from his estranged wife on June 5, 2004, for a weekend visit. The children's whereabouts have remained a mystery, and Dan Porter has told several different stories about what happened to them.

Tina Porter told the Star on Sunday that Independence police officers came to her home at 9:30 a.m. to tell her that they found her children's remains.

"Maj. (Gregg) Wilkinson said they were 99 percent sure that it was Sam and Lindsey," she said.

"It was like watching a movie," she said. "I saw the police cars drive up, and my first thought was that they were coming to tell me they'd found Sam and Lindsey alive. I feel so sick. It just doesn't seem real."

Phone calls to the only listing for Tina Porter in the Sugar Creek area rang unanswered Sunday.

The remains were found on land owned by La Farge North America, where Dan Porter used to poach deer.

It also is in an area where Dan Porter and Tina Porter met on the day he took the children. Police said he asked Tina Porter to meet him near the area to exchange vehicles with him.

Tina Porter said that when she met Dan Porter, the children weren