Private investigator Phil Klein searching Leadore campground for evidence in DeOrr Kunz case

LEADORE -- A private investigator spent today searching the Timber Creek Campground for signs of missing toddler DeOrr Kunz, Jr.

Philip Klein of Klein Investigations in Texas says he and his team have been conducting searches at the campground since early Sunday morning.

“We have obtained a cadaver dog from Georgia and we are currently doing a ground search on a specific area of the campground,” Klein tells EastIdahoNews.com.

Klein was previously employed as a private investigator by father Vernal DeOrr Kunz, but was fired by the family in March after claiming mother Jessica Mitchell knew where DeOrr's body was.

The private investigator has since been retained by an unknown benefactor to continue his investigation into the case. Klein will not reveal the the name of the benefactor.

On Wednesday, Klein told EastIdahoNews.com team he has uncovered more evidence in the case of the missing boy and law enforcement has been notified.

However, he decline to release the nature of that evidence.

Lemhi County Sheriff Chief Deputy Steve Penner confirms to EastIdahoNews.com that his department has been cooperating with Klein’s search.

“There are things his guys have found and we’ve come up to take a closer look at it,” Penner said, adding that there have no major developments or finds in the case.

DeOrr disappeared while on a camping trip in Leadore with his parents, great-grandfather, and a family friend nearly a year ago.

There has been no sign of the now 3-year-old since July 10 and local and federal investigators believe the child was either accidentally or intentionally killed.

Nobody has been charged in the case, but Lemhi County Sheriff Lynn Bowerman said the boy’s parents, Vernal DeOrr Kunz and Jessica Mitchell, are considered suspects.