Santa Barbara police dig for remains of 7-year-old Ramona Price, missing since 1961

(CBS/AP) SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Authorities seeking the body of a 7-year-old girl who vanished nearly 50 years ago began excavating a patch of earth Tuesday, at a site where a confessed child serial killer helped build an overpass along U.S. Highway 101.

Police in Santa Barbara say digging has begun in the search for the remains of 7-year-old Ramona Price.

Police Lt. Paul McCaffrey said Tuesday the digging would begin at a location where search dogs had shown an interest.

Ramona disappeared on Sept. 2, 1961, and police now suspect she was another victim of serial killer Mack Ray Edwards, who confessed to killing more than 20 children before he committed suicide on death row in San Quentin in 1971.

Edwards was a heavy equipment operator who worked on freeway construction at the site along U.S. 101.

Authorities expect the excavation to take several days.