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Berdella was arrested within minutes of Bryson's complaints, as it was obvious by looking at him, Bryson was telling at least a partial truth. The detectives had 20 hours, according to the laws of Missouri, to determine what charges they were holding him on. This would prove to be no easy task.

Detectives with the Kansas City Police Department spent the entire weekend cataloging items found in Berdella's home. It became rapidly apparent he was a collector or packrat. His house contained things like vertebrae and skulls, it was not easy to determine at a glance if these items were authentic. There were reports of other missing young men, of course, and the goal was to determine if any of them met with foul play at the hands of Bob Berdella.

The police spent the remainder of their time that weekend obtaining search warrants and warrants to detain Berdella in custody. However, after sorting through the copious piles of papers, pictures and other clutter and dog feces in Berdella's home, the detectives didn't have time left to do much else.

Bryson positively identified Berdella in photos the detectives showed him while he was in the hospital. Berdella was originally charged with forced sodomy and charges relating to the torture Bryson endured.

Berdella spent his life involved with young males in one way or another. He volunteered for youth organizations, neighborhood crime watch and various other committees. He let young men live with him and employed them to work in his store.

"He was involved with the neighborhood crime watch and used that to snatch young men," said one of Berdella's neighbors who prefers to remain anonymous.

After locating questionable items in Berdella's home, such as the skulls and other bones, the police noticed an area in the basement's dirt floor that by its dimensions resembled a grave.

Police interviewed neighbors, which led police to search the property around the house was located. In the backyard were other freshly dug places. A worst-case scenario seemed to be unfolding.

On Easter weekend, it would prove to be difficult to locate someone who could operate and had access to earth moving equipment. As Berdella was currently being held by warrants previously issued stemming from Bryson's comments, time was on the side of the Kansas City Police Department.

However, as is always the case, the media was alerted to the strange turn of events. The media soon began to swarm the house on Charlotte Street, complicating the entire investigation.

Excavation of the backyard began as hordes of reporters were on site. Almost immediately, the detectives spotted a human skull with hair and soft tissue still intact. The work continued in the backyard into Monday. Strange items were found but unrelated to any human death: bones from animals, jars with bird feathers, etc. The discovery lent credence to the idea that perhaps Berdella was into Satanism or some kind of occult religion.

It seemed that every new discovery created more questions for the detectives rather than answers.

In the meantime, detectives also continued to work inside the house, impeded by the amount of clutter and piles of dog feces. Luminol, a spray chemical used by the detectives to highlight blood, was applied to many areas in the basement with positive results.

People began contacting the police department with concerns for loved ones that were missing and known to have spent time with Berdella. Witnesses stepped forward to discuss their encounters with Berdella. Some claimed to have seen Berdella injecting people with drugs, primarily the tranquilizers he used for his dogs. Others claimed to be victims of these assaults.

The intangible evidence was overwhelming, leading detectives to realize a death, if not more than one, had occurred on Berdella's property, but there was no body. It was most difficult to convince a judge to seriously consider murder charges when there was no corpse to prove a murder occurred. The skull and vertebrae located early in the excavation of the yard were sent into the lab for positive identification. As Berdella had so many odd artifacts in his store and house, it was difficult to determine what was authentic and what was not.

The detectives continued the tedious, methodical search pending results from the lab regarding the bones. They devised a backyard grid, allowing them to search the area most effectively without going over ground than had been previously searched.

Copious documentation provided by Berdella led detectives to begin contacting the people whose names were listed in the diaries he kept of the torture administered to each victim. However, identifying the faces contained within the photographs proved to be difficult in some cases. Some pictures were of Berdella sodomizing his victim, where no face was visible, not even Berdella's.

Police began deciphering the code of shorthand Berdella utilized while logging the events taking place with his victims. It was written in a rather elementary and crude style. For example, police were able to rapidly determine "BF" represented anal penetration with his penis while "Fing F" stood for use of his finger. There were dozens of references to "F" in various fashions such as "carrot F" or "cucumber F" which meant Berdella inserted cucumbers or carrots into the rectum. The logs contained other equally disturbing information regarding the frequency and dosage of medication administered to the victims and where he injected them.

Some names were listed frequently, so the detectives began the search for these individuals. They quickly determined that the information contained in the logs directly corresponded to dates and times of young men who were missing.

The people of Kansas City began to realize that this would be a huge case: there was a serial killer in their midst.