Jan and Bill Smolinski stand in a wooded area behind the home at 69 Wigwam Drive in Shelton, where the homeowner remembers seeing a car and truck driving behind her home around August of 2004. Their son, Billy Smolinski Jr. disappeared from Waterbury in 2004, and his parents are pushing police to investigate the area for more answers. Peter Casolino/Register

By Michelle Tuccitto Sullo, Investigations Editor

and Andy Thibault, Contributing Editor

The family of missing man William “Billy” Smolinski is pushing for police to do a more thorough search of a large wooded area off Wigwam Drive in Shelton, where a resident believes she spotted Smolinski's truck being driven into the woods around the time of his 2004 disappearance.

“There are other places of interest, but this one is top on the list,” said Janice Smolinski of Cheshire, Billy’s mother.

Just this week, state police examined bones which had been found by volunteer searchers at the Wigwam site in February, but the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner determined Tuesday they were animal bones.

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