TWENTYNINE PALMS (CBS 8) – We're taking a closer look at the mine shaft where Marine wife Erin Corwin's body was found after a nearly eight-week search.
The search for Corwin, 19, took a heartbreaking turn over the weekend when her body was found, and her alleged lover was arrested.
Shortly after Corwin disappeared, investigators found her car abandoned outside her home in Twentynine Palms. About 5,000 man hours were spent searching for her, with cave and mine teams searched 100 mines. Nearly eight weeks later and 22 miles away, they found her body 140 feet deep in the
.
YouTube video posted by the Southern California Off Road Explorers shows the Rose of Peru Mine in 2012 near Joshua Tree National Park. Even with a closer look down, all you see is a black hole. At the bottom, 140 down under the ground, is where investigators found Corwin's body along with .22 caliber cartridge casings and rebar that detectives say match what was found in her alleged ex-lover Christopher Lee's Jeep Cherokee and home.
Corwin was married to a Marine, and they were neighbors with Lee and his family on the base in Twentynine Palms. San Bernardino sheriff's investigators believe they were having an affair, and he allegedly killed her because she was pregnant with his child. An arrest warrant shows investigators say Lee admitted he searched online for ways to dispose of a human body.
Lee was arrested in Anchorage, Alaska on Sunday. He moved there shortly after Corwin's disappearance on June 28. The former Marine is being held on $2 million bail, and is fighting extradition to California.
Erin's family is waiting for her body to be released so they can respectfully bury their daughter and sister.
All coroner questions have been directed to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. A spokesperson says results from the autopsy on how Erin died -- and if she was pregnant -- have not been released.
Video credit: Southern California Off Road Explorers via YouTube