That photo shows them running a electrical resistivity survey - checking for more voids in the front yard. Probably so they can safely bring in heavy equipment to try to recover the body.
Sad. I wonder where his drain spouts go. This type of terrain one wants to make sure they drain a good ways from the house.
On the google street view it shows the front drain spout with no extension, dumping 1/3 of the roof water into that corner. I imagine the same goes for the back drain.