Police and family members are trying to remain optimistic that they can find a missing Michigan woman as a search of a landfill enters day 5.
Authorities are scouring a 6.5-acre area of Pine Tree landfill, which accepts trash from across southeastern Michigan. Police are looking for missing hair stylist Ashley Elkins. Elkins, 30, disappeared Jan. 2 and police believe she was murdered.
"We would've hoped that it, something would've happened sooner. We're on day four, but the family is still optimistic. The chief and the police have been very optimistic that the body is at that site," Elkins' uncle, Maurice Morton, told WXYZ-7.
"But [Roseville Police Chief Mitch Berlin] explained it takes time. The equipment they're using, it's a very delicate and it's a very detailed search. We appreciate everything the police are doing, all the volunteers, all the other agencies that are helping," Morton told the station.
Elkins' car was found a few miles from the residence of her ex-boyfriend, Deandre Booker, on Jan. 7. The vehicle was missing its license plate. The next day police arrested Booker, 32, and charged him lying to investigators, WDIV-4 reported.
Berlin told WXYZ-7 that volunteers are sifting through about two inches of garbage on every pass of the 6.5-acre portion of the landfill. Numerous volunteers from 14 different law enforcement agencies are participating in the search.
