From time to time, the searchers, probing with hand rakes through 300 tons of garbage a day, would calmly ask an on-scene detective to come take a look at something they had found that might be of interest.
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But on Friday, that calm was shattered by shouts indicating a significant find - human remains, discovered by Salt Lake City police Sgt. J.R. Nelson.
"I pulled this group of trash out of the row and as I did it, I pulled apart a part of a bag and hair came out of the bag," Nelson said. "I thought I had just hit another bag of trash from a barber shop that had hair in it.
"I made a closer look and saw a jawbone with teeth," he said. "My immediate reaction was that it appeared to be human. I called the detective, Jim Prior, to come over and verify. I said something like, 'I think I found something.' "
A number of searchers approached the area before someone reminded them it was now a crime scene, said Salt Lake City police officer John Lundgren, who was probing a row of garbage nearby.
Within hours, the remains were identified as those of Lori Hacking, the 27-year-old Salt Lake City woman allegedly shot to death by her husband, Mark Hacking, on July 19.
"This morning was certainly different," Lundgren said. "We knew that we had something. It's pretty unmistakable, human remains."
It was the find Lundgren, Nelson and their colleagues were hoping for - not so they could escape the blowing dust and stench of trash, but so Lori's relatives and friends could reclaim the woman they loved and give her a proper burial.
The find was emotional for searchers as well as others working at the landfill, said Salt Lake City Police Chief Rick Dinse.
"I can tell you there were tears," he said.
The search has been "very smelly, very dirty, hot," said police spokesman Phil Eslinger, who spent two weeks on the search before he had to resume duties as spokesman.
Eslinger said he put a nail through the top of his shoe on the second day of the search, despite wearing boots with steel toes and steel plates. "There's plenty of dangers."
He was not injured, he said, and had been immunized for tetanus and hepatitis A and B.
"It was a very, extremely tough job," said Nelson, a 25-year veteran. "I didn't know how much longer I was going to be able to do it."
He said it was the "luck of the draw" that he was the one to find Lori's body.
"I don't think I'm any kind of a hero," he said. "But being able to assist this family and put some closure on this is what I was out there for."
Like the other searchers, Eslinger said he volunteered for "personal reasons."
Lundgren echoed that sentiment, saying thoughts of his own family and sympathy for the Soares and Hacking families prompted him to sign up.
"I've got a couple of baby girls," he said.
Lundgren brought music headphones with him to help pass the time.
"After a while, you get used to the smell."
Now that Lori's remains have been found, Lundgren said the primary emotion among searchers is relief for her relatives.
Nelson said he participated in the search because he has a sister and daughter.
"I would hate to have [a landfill] as their final resting place," he said. "That was the reason I was out there. I couldn't imagine [Lori's] parents having to go through that the rest of their life."
aebroughton@sltrib.com
israel@sltrib.com
