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Patio Built To Conceal Novato Backyard Body

NOVATO (CBS/BCN) - A buried body discovered at the home of a missing Novato man was found under a newly-constructed brick patio that seemed to have been built to cover the gravesite, according to a Novato Police sergeant.

FBI investigators uncovered the body in the backyard of a home on Rebecca Way late Wednesday night.  The home belongs to 74-year-old Dale Smith, reported missing since February 9th by a neighbor.

Both Smith and his wife, 54-year-old Evelyn Smith, had been living at the home but neighbors said Dale Smith had not been seen since November.

Dale Smith had been suffering from bladder and esophageal cancer and had heart disease, according to police.

Police are calling Evelyn Smith a person of interest in the case, but she is not in custody.

Novato police asked the FBI's evidence recovery team to excavate the rear yard after results of a canine search turned out to be inconclusive, Novato police Sgt. Oliver Collins said.

On Feb. 11, police requested that the California Office of Emergency Services provide cadaver dogs to check Smith's property, Collins said.

The results of the search were questionable.

Novato police Lt. Dave Jeffries said Wednesday afternoon that the dogs reacted to something, but the search had "mixed results."

The FBI "worked late into the evening" and found a body buried under a "newly-placed brick patio" near the rear entrance of the home, Collins said.

The team was to begin exhuming the body later Thursday morning, Collins said.

Collins estimated that the body would be unearthed by Thursday night and identified shortly afterward.

Police declined to provide further details regarding the condition of the body.

(© 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)

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