Howard was able to narrow the search area with the help of her cousin, Isaiah Woods of Monroe. Woods attended Willis’ funeral in January 1979 and was able to identify the site by the existence of two trees and a concrete border several feet from the burial site.

“It’s in this area,” Woods said, pointing to the area where Howard had placed a small brick to mark the gravesite. “I was at the funeral and I remember this concrete (border).”

Even Monroe’s Herbert Harris joined in the search. Harris has lived behind the cemetery on Grammont Street for 63 years. He noted that Willis was likely buried where the search was being conducted because funerals in the late 1970s were held in the vicinity of Monroe Brick, which was across Grammont Street from the cemetery.

“I had not been keeping up with the story, but I’ve always tried to help people out,” Harris said. “This is an older area, but a little newer than other parts of the cemetery.”

Harris also said he had spoken Tuesday to a woman in Atlanta who attended Willis’ funeral and that she had also confirmed the location.

Monroe Public Works Director Tom Janway said the problem with locating Willis’ grave stemmed from the fact that the city kept no plot records at the cemetery before the early 1980s. Although graves before 1980 are difficult to find, gravesites of people buried after that time are documented on a plot map.