Second day of landfill search yields no results in Powell case

Puyallup, Wash. • A group of 30 volunteers continued to sift through piles of papers at a Washington state landfill on Sunday with hopes of uncovering clues possibly left behind by Josh Powell, who killed his two sons and himself in a fire at his home a week ago.

Investigators from the Pierce County Sheriff's Office visited the recycling center Wednesday and conducted a brief search for the papers. The effort failed to yield anything relevant, said office spokesman Ed Troyer.

The search effort resumed on Sunday, with no reports of evidence recovered as of late Sunday afternoon. The volunteers were part of a youth explorers program run through the sheriff's department. Law enforcement was on hand to oversee their efforts.

Investigators had received a tip that Powell may have taken office paper to the recycling center the day before he set fire to his home, said Don Taylor, assistant district manager for LRI Hidden Valley, which operates the landfill.

Taylor said there are no security cameras on site, and the day before the Powell deaths was one of the site's busiest days on record as people disposed of debris from a recent storm. The landfill is a 3-mile drive from Powell's Graham rental home.

Melinda Rogers