Dateline: Secrets Uncovered - Where were Lloyd Ford's remains found?

The decades-long mystery surrounding the disappearance of Lloyd Ford, a long-haul truck driver who went missing in 1980, was solved when his remains were unearthed from the backyard of a Boise, Idaho, home in September 2007.

Lloyd was drugged and shot with a deer rifle before being buried in the backyard by his then-wife Judy Gough, who told family members that he left her for another woman. The truth only surfaced when Kimberly Wright, the victim's step-daughter, tipped off authorities in 2007 about their family's horrifying secret. Kimberly claimed she was only 12 years old when she witnessed the murder.

An all-new episode of Dateline: Secrets Uncovered is slated to unravel Lloyd Ford's slaying this Wednesday. The episode titled The Family Secret will air on the channel at 8:00 pm ET on June 21, 2023, on Oxygen.

The synopsis for the same reads:

"It is common for long-haul truck driver Lloyd Ford to be gone for stretches, and when he disappears, it doesn't raise many flags; at least two people know where he is, and they guard the secret for 27 years, but the truth is about to be revealed."

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Lloyd Ford's skeletal remains were found buried in the backyard of his Boise home nearly three decades after he disappeared

Lloyd Ford's remains were found buried in his backyard 27 years after he was murdered by his second wife (Image via Bonnie's Blog of Crime)

Lloyd Ford, a father of three and a long-haul truck driver, mysteriously disappeared in 1980 while residing in a Boise, Idaho, home with his second wife Judy, who had three of her own children from two previous marriages.

According to The Cinemaholic, Lloyd's family first learned of his disappearance when his daughter, Sandy, who routinely called him, failed to get in touch with him in 1980. Judy initially told his family that he was away on business before alleging that he left her and run off with another woman.

The unsuccessful search for him was eventually abandoned until 2007, when Judy's daughter Kimberly Wright made shocking revelations about a family secret they had been hiding for nearly 27 years.

In 2007, Kimberly confessed that she was only 12 years old when the incident occurred in 1980. Judy had asked her to purchase sleeping pills, which she later crushed and mixed with food that was then consumed by Lloyd Ford.

Judy drugged him before fatally shooting him in front of her 12-year-old daughter before placing his body in a chest. The mother of three then enlisted the assistance of her two young children to help her bury the chest in their backyard.

Fragments of Lloyd's skeletal remains were unearthed from the backyard in September 2007. Judy Gough was arrested that same month after Kimberly cooperated with authorities to get her mother to confess to the crime on record.

Following this, the mother of three alleged that the victim was abusive and that she acted only to protect her children. However, Lloyd's children denied the allegations made by their former stepmother.

According to HuffPost, Judy even tried to pin the blame on Kimberly, asserting that at the time of the murder, the 12-year-old urged her to shoot the victim.

Nonetheless, she was initially charged with first-degree murder but pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 2009, only a few days shy of her high-profile trial. She was given a 10-year prison sentence as part of her plea deal.

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Learn more about Lloyd Ford's case on Oxygen's Dateline: Secrets Uncovered this Wednesday at 8 pm ET.