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Topaz Mountain • The father of Susan Cox Powell arrived here Friday, looking on as technicians meticulously sifted dirt from a site cadaver dogs have indicated contains human remains.
Chuck Cox said he plans to stay in Utah indefinitely, knowing it's unclear how long it might take to complete a police search of this remote area or connect anything discovered in it to his missing daughter.
"I just feel it. This is a worthwhile investigation. A good place to be looking," Cox told reporters. "I need to stay until we find out what we have found here."
As of Friday afternoon, no human remains had been found in dirt removed from the site, which an archaeologist has determined to be less than 10 years old based on soil disturbance. Two technicians were looking for bone fragments or anything foreign to the area — such as clothing or jewelry — as they sifted the dirt.
The process went slower than expected, according to West Valley City Police Lt. Bill Merritt.
"As it stands we are probably not even a quarter of the way through of the dirt that has been pulled out," Merritt said Friday afternoon.
Although the technicians are trained in the processes, they are not specialists. West Valley City police have asked for an on-site forensic anthropologist who could more quickly determine whether tiny objects that appear to be rocks could be something else, Merritt said.
Five more detectives will also be added to the sifting effort to help create an assembly-line approach. But even with the additional help, police expect to be at the site for a few more days.
That is, if weather allows. Search efforts and sifting were halted at about 2:45 p.m. Friday due to rain and windy conditions. Police plan to renew those efforts Saturday, their sixth day here, if the weather improves.
Once the sifting process is finished, continued excavation will resume at the site. Investigators have dug a hole about one foot deep and two feet wide, but have yet to uncover any bones.
"Hopefully we'll start to find something [at the excavation site] the deeper we go," said Merritt. "If we don't find anything we are going to have to make a decision. But the dogs are continuing to indicate down 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.
Regardless of what is or isn't found, Cox won't give up.
"There is no real false hope. It's just another part of the investigation," Cox said. "As long as I know the investigation is progressing and the police are doing what they need to do, I have every confidence that it will be solved."
Cox teared up as he spoke of his missing daughter, adding that the case will be solved "with or without " the help of his son-in-law.
This remote area 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 their mother 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.
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.
Susan 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.
Twitter: @RoxanaOre
Melinda Rogers contributed to this report. —
Read recent coverage of the case:
Susan Powell's family files suit to keep journals off Web permanently • tinyurl.com/67g74jx
'Stuff we were looking for': Police pore over Powell home evidence • tinyurl.com/3ps4c3o
Nevada search for Susan Powell ends; mystery lingers • tinyurl.com/6ds8pml
New sex allegations in Susan Powell case • tinyurl.com/67o7lga
Photos and timeline: A look at the Susan Powell disappearance • tinyurl.com/653bqog