Print      
Search concludes at home where bodies were found
Investiga-tors have been searching the Spring-field home of Stewart Weldon for a week. He is being held on $2 million bail. (Keith Bedford/Globe Staff/File)
By Travis Andersen
Globe Staff

Investigators on Wednesday were concluding their weeklong search of a Springfield house where the remains of three women were discovered, according to officials.

James Leydon, a spokesman for the Hampden district attorney’s office, said Wednesday afternoon that it was his “understanding [investigators] are wrapping up today.’’

Police had been searching the home of Stewart Weldon, who is being held on kidnapping charges in two separate cases. He was arrested May 27 after a traffic stop. A badly injured woman who was in Weldon’s car told police he held her captive for a month and repeatedly beat her with a hammer and raped her, according to court records.

A few days later, on May 30, police began searching his home after “more information came in’’ and discovered the remains of three women.

Prosecutors have identified the women as America Lyden, 34, and Ernestine Ryans, 47, both of Springfield, and Kayla Escalante, 27, of Ludlow. No one has been charged in connection with their deaths. On Monday, Weldon was arraigned on charges that he tried to kidnap and rape another woman in February. Details of those allegations were not made public.

During the search of Weldon’s property, officials used ground-penetrating radar. Leydon said that a report on the search had been completed, but the findings were not released. Police also searched Weldon’s former address in Westfield Wednesday. However, the search did not yield any new evidence, Leydon said.

Weldon’s next court hearing is scheduled for June 29.

Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @TAGlobe.