Cadaver dog said to detect human remains at ex-Oakland home of long-missing woman

Paul Dostie and his cadaver dog Buster picked up a possible scent from missing woman Kristen Modaferri, in the basement of the apartment building she reportedly lived at, in Oakland, Calif. on Thursday, June 25, 2015. The student from North Carolina was last seen at the Crocker Galleria cafe where she worked in June 1997. less Paul Dostie and his cadaver dog Buster picked up a possible scent from missing woman Kristen Modaferri, in the basement of the apartment building she reportedly lived at, in Oakland, Calif. on Thursday, June ... more Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 10 Caption Close Cadaver dog said to detect human remains at ex-Oakland home of long-missing woman 1 / 10 Back to Gallery

Almost exactly 18 years after Kristen Modafferi disappeared upon leaving her coffee-shop job in San Francisco, an ominous potential new lead surfaced Thursday at her former home near Oakland’s Lake Merritt — a cadaver dog and handler working with her family reported detecting the scent of human remains in the basement.

Paul Dostie, a retired Mammoth Lakes police sergeant, said his three-legged black Labrador named Buster alerted to the scent of the “chemical plume” associated with decaying human remains in the basement of the home on the 200 block of Jayne Avenue in the Adams Point neighborhood.

Dostie, 61, who along with Buster, 11, has gained renown for locating the remains of soldiers missing in action abroad, cautioned that he did not know for sure whether the scent the dog had alerted to could be the remains of Modafferi, or possibly the ashes of somebody else associated with the multi-family, seven-bedroom home. Dostie said he had permission from the homeowner to inspect the residence.

“There’s human decomposition in here,” Dostie said before he gave a Chronicle reporter a tour of the sloping basement and backyard of the home. “Someone’s dead here.”

Late Thursday afternoon, Oakland police officers and an evidence technician — accompanied by Dostie — went to the scene to check what the dog found. The home had been scoured 18 years ago by dogs and evidence technicians, said Officer Johnna Watson, an Oakland police spokeswoman.

Reached by phone Thursday, Modafferi’s father, Bob Modafferi, said he was “cautiously optimistic that this could be the lead that we’ve been looking for for the past 18 years. Obviously, if it turns out to be true, Kristen’s not coming home alive, but at least we’ll have closure. That’s something we’ve wanted all this time.” He questioned whether police had searched the home “thoroughly enough” years earlier.

His wife, Debbie Modaferri, said, “We just want to bring Kristen home and just have answers to all our questions all these years.”

On Thursday, Dostie put Buster — dubbed “The Wonder Dog” for his search prowess by local Mammoth Lakes press — through his paces. “Buster, let’s go find!” The dog, who had a leg removed because of cancer, went along the sides of the house and sniffed at several vents leading to the basement. He barked loudly each time.

“Thank you, Buster. Let’s go find some more,” Dostie responded, leading the canine into the basement. The dog, panting heavily in the heat, obliged.

Buster also alerted to a smell in the basement, as well as to soil inside, Dostie said. He added that he was intrigued by a concrete slab in part of the basement that he described as “kind of like a hack job. This came in later. That is weird, that slab.” The other half of the basement was dirt.

The dog also sensed a plume of decay along the backyard as it sloped down away from Jayne Avenue, clear across to a drain pipe with an opening further downhill a block east, on Perkins Street.

Modafferi was 18 when she was last seen June 23, 1997, after she finished her shift at Spinelli’s coffeehouse at the Crocker Galleria in San Francisco. She was an industrial design student at North Carolina State University who came to the Bay Area to take a summer photography course at the University of California at Berkeley. She lived with four male roommates in Oakland, next door to what was then a halfway house.

Police have not said much publicly about the case in recent years. But earlier this year, police issued an unusual statement, saying there was no evidence that real estate heir Robert Durst, accused of killing his friend Susan Berman in 2000, was linked to Modafferi’s disappearance.

There is a $50,000 reward for information in the case. Those with tips can call Oakland police at (510) 238-3641 or (800) VANISHED. The Modafferi family has set up a Web site at www.modlink.com/kristen/home.shtml

Henry K. Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: hlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: