Search for Susan Cox Powell a positive experience; an inspiration for future search efforts (Photos)

April 11, 2010 - The April 10 ground search for Susan Cox Powell was a great success in the eyes of those who were there.

While they did not find Susan, and the evidence they did find may not be linked to Susan, the fact that a group of trained professionals, representatives from the BLM, Tooele Sheriff's department deputies, family and friends of Susan, and others, all got together to help in the search for clues into her disappearance, is something that's been a long time coming and appreciated by all those who have grown to know and love Susan.

Linda Osborne, who has been searching for Susan since she went missing in early December, said, "Being a participant in yesterday’s search for Susan Powell in Utah’s west desert, I witnessed a tremendous effort on the part of search and rescue personnel, and those with past or present experience with military and law enforcement, as well as firemen, investigators, a medical rescue unit, sheriff deputies and detectives."

"Since this was the first major search for Susan Powell since she went missing on December 7, 2009," Linda said, "it involved many different agencies and the participants were pleasantly surprised to see the search run so smoothly and without any major complications. The organization of this event proved to be a great success!"

"To my dismay," Osborne continued, "in reading the news coverage on yesterday’s search, I read disappointing headlines such as 'No luck in Search for Susan Powell', 'Nothing found in the Search for Susan Powell', and 'Search for Susan Powell Turns up Nothing'."

"While it is true that we did not find any evidence that has been proven to be linked to the Susan Powell case," Osborne said, "it is not true that nothing was found."

According to Osborne, the search teams were equipped with certified cadaver dogs. One of the dogs alerted on a piece of women’s clothing, in addition to a second alert of the ground 50 feet away.

A second cadaver-trained dog was brought to this location and alerted on the same two areas. At this point, Osborne said, the Tooele County Sheriff’s Department was notified.

"The Deputy stationed at the search command post responded first and requested detectives come to the site," Osborne said. "The evidence was collected by the department. While these cadaver dog hits may not be related to the Susan Powell case, they very well may be related to another case, so it is incorrect to report that nothing was found."

Chris Willden, Investigator and Director of Training for Strategic Tactical Group, said, "I think the good points from the search were the people we had on our team. We covered a LOT of ground over a huge area and our team didn't want to stop."

"The only reason we stopped," Willden said, "was the time-frame that the search was scheduled for had come to an end."

"A lot of ground was covered on foot, vehicle, trained K-9s, and motorized parachute pilots," Osborne said. "We now have a huge map provided by the BLM which marks off the areas that have been professionally searched and can now be ruled out."

"It was great to have K-9 teams in our group from Rocksprings, Wyoming and Tooele County," Willden said. "We were able to search an area to help Susan's family and to put them at ease."

"Progress was made yesterday through a lot of hard work and efforts of people contributing specialized services and expertise," Osborne said.

Kurt Hadfield, dog handler with Great Basin K-9 Search and Rescue, told Examiner.com Sunday, "I feel the search went very well and it was a positive experience. I hope that this will bring some closure for the family for the area we searched."

Hadfield's dog is a German Shephard named Kiser. Great Basin K-9 Search and Rescue is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization.

Hadfield stated their SAR team searches using cadaver dogs and covers wilderness areas and waterways, among other areas. He said he'd be more than happy to assist in future search efforts for Susan.

"Susan’s best friend, Kiirsi Hellewell, said it beautifully: 'These people who don’t know Susan, and are complete strangers to her, have put in so much time, money and effort into this, which is so touching'," Osborne said.

"This search was a demonstration of caring professionals who worked flawlessly together for about 12 hours, starting at 5:30 in the morning. In my opinion, that makes this search, the planning and coordination, a huge success," Osborne said.

"We were in a beautiful, yet baron part of Utah's west desert," Willden said. "It was a good experience to work with other teams and be educated on others search techniques."

Willden doesn't want this to be the end, but the beginning of future searches. He said, "I hope the efforts of these fine people will continue until Susan Powell is found."

Osborne shared his sentiments stating, "I've been searching for Susan since early December, but it wasn't until now that I've had the expertise of all of these people who came together to do the search. I'm hoping the other participants share my willingness to continue in future searches until Susan is found."

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