Exhumation of Shelly Wilmarth¶
The exhumation of Shelly Wilmarth is the errand that brings the task force to Utah: a client's request to dig up her dead mother's grave in Ballard, which stays pending as the town falls apart around it.
| Type | Case objective / legal process |
| Aliases | Exhumation court order; the exhumation |
| Requested by | Alberta Wilmarth |
| Subject | Shelly Wilmarth |
| Location | Churchyard cemetery, Ballard |
| Status | Judge agreed in Walkers 04; dig scheduled but never carried out |
| First appearance | Walkers 01 |
The request¶
In Walkers 01, Alberta Wilmarth knocks on Andrew Howard's door holding a box of documents and tapes and says: "I need you to force the Mormon church to exhume my mom." Her mother, Shelly Wilmarth, died of a heart attack in the winter of 1990, alone with the cattle. Alberta shows an obituary, a yearbook photo, a reunion photo and a VHS copy of local news footage of a community-centre protest in which Shelly appears. The man renting the ranch has also seen her walking the edge of the property at night (Walkers 01).
In the morning Big Bill, stressed, tells Howard that it is the task force's case and the FBI will pay for the plane tickets. Howard announces, "Who wants to exhume a dead woman?" Kurt has a shovel, which Huell had been using on a previous case (Walkers 01). In Walkers 02, as the team leaves the ranch, Alberta asks them to see about the exhumation as soon as they can (Walkers 02).
Paperwork and the judge¶
In Walkers 03, the party sets out to start the process. The players debate what an exhumation would prove, with Dante calling it "the opposite of a welfare check": finding a body would point to a fake or doppelganger, while an empty coffin would point to reanimation or a faked death.
Sheriff McDermish agrees to file the paperwork the next day. He warns that the town's judge is a cantankerous man with old-fashioned views, and that an exhumation sought in a custody dispute about fifteen years earlier went nowhere. At the churchyard the party finds Shelly's grave under a big black granite slab, undisturbed and cleaned, with some trampled grass from a recent visitor. Kurt notes that they could steal the body if the exhumation is denied (Walkers 03).
In Walkers 04, Howard spends hours on the phone with the sheriff, judges and the FBI. His roll (a 7) fails to move a judge who objects for religious reasons, so Rita (as Howard) calls Big Bill, who talks to the judge for twenty minutes and leaves him shaken. The judge agrees, and the exhumation is set for the day after tomorrow (Walkers 04). Walkers 05 opens with Andre's recap that the court order should go through the day after tomorrow, and Dante credits it to "Rita called dad." Later Kurt tells Alberta that the exhumation is going through (Walkers 05).
Ground-penetrating radar¶
Because the dig is delayed, the team brings in ground-penetrating radar. In Walkers 06, a scan over the grave, compared against neighbouring plots, shows something solid in the coffin, with about 85% confidence. Dante explains that the scan was a backup in case the order was not approved, and the party concludes that it is worth digging the next day (Walkers 06).
Still pending¶
In Walkers 07, Andre reminds the players that they have the exhumation order for the following morning, the same time Donald McManley is due to arrive (Walkers 07). The recorded episodes never show the grave being opened. It is never established whether Shelly's body is in the coffin, or what Alberta saw on the news footage. For Alberta's account of her mother's apparition on the ranch, see Shelly Wilmarth.