Police sifting through dirt at Susan Powell search site - Salt Lake Tribune
Topaz Mountain • West Valley City police on Friday morning began a fifth day of searching for signs of Susan Cox Powell, sifting through dirt dug in an area where cadaver dogs have indicated there are human remains.
A forensics team has arrived here and is now looking for bone fragments or anything foreign to the area — such as clothing or jewelry — in the dirt. If any bone fragments are found, the state Medical Examiner will be called to the scene.
Once the sifting process is finished, the team will assist in continued excavation at the site, which Bureau of Land Management archaeologist Joelle McCarthy has determined is less than 10 years old based on soil disturbance. Investigators by Thursday evening had dug an area about 2 feet wide and 1 foot deep at the site, but did not discover any bones before stopping for the day at 6 p.m.
"Hopefully we'll start to find something [at the excavation site] the deeper we go," said West Valley City Police Lt. Bill Merritt. "If we don't find anything we are going to have to make a decision. But the dogs are continuing to indicate inside the hole. That leads us to believe that there is something down there."
Cadaver dogs have been able to detect remains buried as much as 12 feet deep, said Merritt.
Meanwhile, detectives on all-terrain vehicles and cadaver dogs and handlers resumed their search. Susan Powell's father, Chuck Cox, was expected to be at the site Friday afternoon.
West Valley City Police Chief Buzz Nielsen joined investigators at the search command post Thursday afternoon, saying he wanted to see the area and discuss detectives' needs. He said the cadaver dogs alerted their handlers to a location with "upturned soil" Wednesday afternoon.
"We're hoping it's a really good lead for us," Nielsen said. "There is some information we received lately that says they [Susan and Josh Powell] were out here."
This remote area is about 30 miles away from where Josh Powell, the only person of interest named in his wife's disappearance, says he took his two young sons camping the night his wife disappeared from their West Valley City home. Police have said Josh Powell liked to gem hunt — and family and friends have confirmed that Josh and Susan Powell had visited the area on previous family excursions.
The Cox family has endured other suspenseful situations in at least four other instances over the past two years as remains that did not turn out to be those of Susan Powell were found in Utah and other states. Chuck Cox on Thursday remained doubtful the site would hold the remains of his daughter, saying the remote location would have been difficult to reach during a snowstorm that occurred the night of her disappearance.
Josh Powell issued a statement through his sister, Alina Powell, in an email on Thursday, asking police to reveal more information.
"With very little information available to the public, we can only hope that additional information is released quickly to minimize heartache to those of us who love Susan. In the meantime, we continue to hope for Susan's safe return," the statement reads.
Last month, detectives searched a number of mines in the desert around Ely, Nev. The police department has called that search successful, but have not said whether it yielded any useful evidence
Following the Ely search, West Valley City police traveled to Puyallup, Wash., to serve a search warrant at the home where Josh Powell now lives with his father, Steve Powell. Investigators seized computer towers and several boxes of possible evidence.
Powell, 28, disappeared Dec. 6, 2009, and was reported missing the next day after she failed to show up to work. Her husband has said he took his then 2- and 4-year-old sons on a late-night camping trip to Simpson Springs in Tooele County, and returned to find his wife gone.
Nielsen said Thursday he is confident the disappearance will be solved.
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