Detectives said they are searching a piece of land in Crystal River after receiving a new lead in a 20-year-old cold case.

Margo Register, 19, was last seen on Jan. 4, 1994 in Crystal River.  According to the Citrus County Sheriff's office, Register and her husband, Willis, left their apartment after a day in which the couple had argued repeatedly.

Officials said Willis Register, then 22, told them the couple traveled to A to Z Discount Beverage off Highway 44, and that he went into the store to buy a beer but when he came back out, his wife was gone.

Margo Register was never seen or heard from again.

Willis Register was arrested three months later for shooting and killing a man. He has been in prison ever since, serving a life sentence.

Deputies said they believe Willis Register killed his wife, but he continues to deny involvement in the case.

Her younger sister, LaDonna Savoy, said she has accepted the fact that her sister is dead.

"I have my good days and my bad days," Savoy said. "Sometimes I just have to stop and sit for a while and just let the pressure off."

Savoy said she prays all the time for some kind of closure. She said she wants her sister found after 20 years of waiting.

"We just really want to start the healing process and we can't really move on until it is closed," she said.

Deputies said the new lead led them to a piece of land in Crystal River, where Register may have been buried.  They have been searching the swampy patch of woods for her remains since Monday.

The search process is slow and methodical, focusing on a piece of land that is about a half-acre in size. Detectives said they are about 30 percent complete, but so far they have not found anything.