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Topaz Mountain • Undeterred by their failure to find any tangible sign of missing West Valley City mother Susan Cox Powell during seven days of searching, police vowed Sunday to continue their efforts in the desert near Delta.
The number of searchers on Sunday climbed to about 100 — the largest group yet to assemble in the area near Topaz Mountain — as the focus expanded from the east side of the popular rock-hounding area to the west side of the range.
But at the end of the day, there were no new discoveries.
West Valley City Police Lt. Bill Merritt said many of the searchers, including members of the Juab and Millard county search-and-rescue teams and handlers of the cadaver dogs, are volunteers who must return to their regular jobs.
On Monday, a new group of about 100 search-and-rescue personnel from various agencies will spread out in the area near Topaz Mountain to look for signs of Powell. A plane and a helicopter also will be involved in the search efforts, but no cadaver-scenting dogs will be there.
Merritt expressed disappointment that a suspected shallow grave crews began excavating on Wednesday contained only small pieces of charred wood.
Cadaver dogs last week detected the scent of human decomposition where the wood pieces were found, and Merritt believes it was used to burn human remains. The wood will be examined by a forensic specialist, but there is presently nothing tying it to Susan Powell.
The hole was 2 feet wide, 3 feet long and a little over 2 feet deep at the point when excavation was halted Saturday evening. Police said the cadaver dogs lost interest in the site after the 100 or so pieces of charred wood were removed.
"Yesterday was a little bit of a blow to us," Merritt said Sunday. "We had really been hoping that this would be something. We worked on that for several days. Everybody was waiting very anxiously to find the latest news on it. When it turned out to be nothing obviously significant to us, it was a big disappointment."
But Merritt added: "We're back at it today. We are not going to give up."
He said he was pleased with how much ground searchers covered Sunday due to the massive volunteer turnout.
"We've been able to really step things up with the extra personnel," he said. "We are making a lot of progress, covering a lot of mileage and it's just looking really good."
A large map in a trailer at the command post showed the areas that searchers — equipped with GPS tracking devices — had covered.
Police searchers have come across numerous items, such as clothing and blankets. And a group of women camping in the area reported finding a jacket. In each case, the cadaver dogs were called over to see if they smelled any sign of a dead human being.
Chuck Cox, Susan Powell's father, said Saturday he has no doubt there are traces of human remains in the shallow hole that police processed for four days last week. But he said he doesn't hold out a lot of hope for what could be "taken off" pieces of burned wood.
Cox added, however, that he felt the search has been worthwhile and is a step toward finding his missing daughter.
"I wanted to come down to thank [police] for looking and give my support in case they found something," said Cox, who traveled to Utah last week from his home Puyallup, Wash.
"I'm very glad that we're back searching for Susan," he said Sunday.
Topaz Mountain is about 30 miles away from where Josh Powell, the only person of interest police have 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 Topaz Mountain area on previous family excursions.
West Valley City police recently conducted a search in the desert around Ely, Nev., and over the past months have conducted numerous searches in Tooele County. Police serving a search warrant also recently removed several computer towers and other evidence from the Washington home where Josh Powell now lives in with his father.
Susan Powell, 28, has been missing since Dec. 6, 2009. Josh Powell has said he had taken the couple's young sons, then ages 2 and 4, on a winter camping trip to Simpson Springs in Tooele County, and returned home to find his wife gone without a trace.
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