New Search 9/12/2011

[hollyblue]

BenWinslow Ben Winslow
UPDATE: Search efforts resuming with more dirt sifting at shallow grave. @fox13now #SusanPowell #findsusan #Utah

BenWinslow Ben Winslow
UPDATE: Search resuming w/ a forensic anthropologist to help as dirt is sifted at shallow grave. @fox13now #findsusan #Utah

BenWinslow Ben Winslow
Grave site digging about 2 feet deep now. Dogs continue to indicate on the site, @sandyriesgraf says. @fox13now #findsusan #Utah

http://twitter.com/#!/BenWinslow

Thanks for keeping us updated Dr Know. I wish Ben could find out if the little rocks have been indentified by the anthropologist as bones...or not.

 

[HatesSociopaths]

I'm sorry that you don't, but you don't know the specifics of what they're dealing with. Digging up a body while preserving evidence isn't an easy task no matter where it is.

What are the horses for? There is no body in that grave to be found.

If I am wrong, I will gladly eat crow. I want this murderer caught as badly as anyone else.

MOO.

 

[waltzingmatilda]

What are the horses for? There is no body in that grave to be found.

If I am wrong, I will gladly eat crow. I want this murderer caught as badly as anyone else.

MOO.

From what I understand, Le is continuing the search of the area while the excavation is occuring beacuse they have the resources available. :twocents:

wm

 

[HatesSociopaths]

Can anyone point me to an earlier similar case where the excavation of a body from a grave took this long? TIA.

 

[Knox]

Two forensic technologists began sifting through the dirt Friday. But the process was going too slow, Merritt said.

"The forensic supervisor is going to look at whatever is pulled out and make a determination whether or not it looks like it is human remains," Merritt said, adding that her knowledge should help investigators attempting to turn up any evidence at the site.

Two other people were also added to the dirt-sifting process to make it move along faster.

The extra help should mean processing the initial dirt could be completed by noon. Once that’s done more excavation will begin. Merritt added that two more cadaver dogs will be taken to the site to see if they can pinpoint a more exact spot to concentrate on.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/52600721-78/powell-search-merritt-dirt.html.csp

 

[cluciano63]

I wish we had an expert here to say whether or not it would be at all likely that a body buried 3 feet or deeper would be in particles that would mix in with dirt after less than two years...it does not seem likely to me...JMO

 

[Magdalyn]

Don't know if this helps, but here's an article about excavation of skeletal remains.

http://www.crime-scene-investigator.net/excavation.html

 

[HatesSociopaths]

I wish we had an expert here to say whether or not it would be at all likely that a body buried 3 feet or deeper would be in particles that would mix in with dirt after less than two years...it does not seem likely to me...JMO

I do too.

A notable thing to me is that the grave has been dug out only being 3 feet in length. If that is indeed the size of the grave, it would seem that she would have had to be cut in half. Is it possible he did that at the grave site? That would give a good chance of decomp being in the soil, wouldn't it? There was a wet spot on the carpet of their living room, with 2 fans blowing on it, at the time of her disappearance. I wonder if that is where it was done, if it was.

MOO.

 

[Donjeta]

Does JP have access to some kind of equipment that could dismember and shred a body to little pieces?

 

[BeanE]

Saturday, the department's forensics supervisor, who has a degree in anthropology, arrived at the scene. She was expected to make the sifting process go much quicker, said West Valley Police Lt. Bill Merritt.

If she finds anything that could possibly be a bone fragment or piece of evidence, it will be bagged and taken back to Salt Lake City, where the State Medical Examiner's forensic anthropologist can examine it.

The forensic anthropologist was unavailable for the next week, which is why she has not responded to the scene herself, Merritt said.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/...gnificantly-in-Powell-case.html?s_cid=t_share

 

[BeanE]

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/...gnificantly-in-Powell-case.html?s_cid=t_share

Two officers who had been searching on ATVs all week were brought to the dig site Saturday to help sift through dirt. Two fresh cadaver dogs were also brought to the site.

Merritt said, so far, the dogs continue to hit on the area that has yet to be dug up, but have not hit on the pile of dirt already shoveled out. The hole, as of Saturday morning, was about 2 1/2 feet deep, 2 feet wide and 3 feet long.

While officers continued investigating the apparent shallow grave, others continued searching the area. The search Saturday morning was about 10 to 15 miles away from the dig site, Merritt said.

 

[hollyblue]

Two forensic technologists began sifting through the dirt Friday. But the process was going too slow, Merritt said.

"The forensic supervisor is going to look at whatever is pulled out and make a determination whether or not it looks like it is human remains," Merritt said, adding that her knowledge should help investigators attempting to turn up any evidence at the site.

Two other people were also added to the dirt-sifting process to make it move along faster.

The extra help should mean processing the initial dirt could be completed by noon. Once that’s done more excavation will begin. Merritt added that two more cadaver dogs will be taken to the site to see if they can pinpoint a more exact spot to concentrate on.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/52600721-78/powell-search-merritt-dirt.html.csp

Just wanted to add this because of Ben's deleted tweet: Also at the site Saturday was the West Valley City Police Department forensic supervisor, who has an anthropology degree.

 

[cluciano63]

They are also searching 10-15 miles away from the site? This is so confusing.

 

[Knox]

If lime was used to promote quicker decomposition, would signs of that appear in the soil being excavated?

 

[BeanE]

They are also searching 10-15 miles away from the site? This is so confusing.

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

 

[HatesSociopaths]

They are also searching 10-15 miles away from the site? This is so confusing.

IMO, they are looking for the new grave.

I would speculate he took it to another location he is familiar with. Another area to look for rocks, that he has been to. And one that is a good ways away from this area. I also think he would have gone there first to dig up the new grave, so it is ready to go when he comes back to it with the body. So if there is a place to hunt rocks that is on the way to Topaz Mntn from his WA home (and it is established he has gone there before), I would search there. MOO.

 

[Magdalyn]

Another thought on the grave dimensions. A woman (unless she was on the tall/larger size) buried in the fetal position would likely fit it those dimensions. I'm 5'4" and I just measured my 'crown to rump' length and it's 34".

If he was driving around with her in a bag or suitcase, she'd likely be folded into a fetal position of some sort to take up less space. Burying her that way might seem easier too, especially if she was in rigor.

 

[Knox]

Is this timeline accurate? Josh left with the boys for around three hours prior to departing for the midnight camping trip? If so, what could he have been gathering?

http://www.examiner.com/headlines-i...ine-of-days-surrounding-susan-s-disappearance

 

[BeanE]

Human remains or human decomp as scented by HRD dogs, as I understand from researching landfill searches, can be something as small as a bandaid with a drop of blood and/or pus on it from some kid's scraped knee.

Since all they know is that the dogs are hitting on 'something' that fits into the human remains/decomp category , it makes sense to me that they're keeping the 'hole' they're digging small - 3 feet - until they see what they have.

It just wouldn't make sense to go 5 or 6 feet in diameter when the item may only be a couple inches.

If they find a skeleton, or body, or parts thereof, then they, I imagine, would see which direction it's facing, what position, etc, and then dig outwards from there as necessary to unearth it.

Just thinking out loud.

 

[Donjeta]

If the dogs still alert on the hole and not on what they've dug up I'm still hopeful they might yet find something a bit lower down.