This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
At least 700 people sweated and searched through fields, backyards and alleys Saturday in some of the summer's hottest and unhealthiest air trying to find Destiny Norton, the 5-year-old Salt Lake City girl who disappeared one week ago today.
Carrying a half-full bottle of water, attorney Scott Lundgreen trudged up and down 200 East near Kensington Avenue (1522 South) about 3 p.m. talking to residents, looking into fields and digging into trash bins.
Lundgreen, from Melba, Idaho, drove to Salt Lake City on Saturday to drop off relatives. When he read an account about Destiny in the morning newspaper, he decided to stay and help search.
"I've got a daughter," he said with a pause. "You just never know."
Destiny disappeared last Sunday from the backyard of her Salt Lake City home, at 721 S. 500 East. Volunteers have scoured neighborhoods around her home all week and spread into the Avenues and Sugar House, as well as industrial areas west of town.
Most searchers carried bottled water and Gatorade to stay hydrated as Saturday's high temperature reached 104, tying a 2003 record, as well as being the hottest day this summer. A red alert, or unhealthy-air-quality warning, was issued by the state Department of Environmental Quality, the ninth consecutive warning for the Wasatch Front since July 14.
Rachael Norton, Destiny's mom, spent the day in the shade outside the LDS wardhouse at 455 E. Harvard Ave., the staging site for the search. She thanked volunteers and spent some time inside surrounded by friends and family.
Rachael Norton said she last spoke with investigators on Friday to go over names of friends and acquaintances from years past.
"They're bringing up stuff I don't even remember," she said. "They're working on the case."
Family spokeswoman Jeannie Hill said a phone bank was installed at the command center on Friday to field calls from people seeking general information and asking how to participate in the search.
Investigators have received calls about found clothes and toys purported to belong to Destiny, but so far none of the tips has panned out, Hill said.
"She just plain and simple disappeared," she said. "We've gone through [Destiny's] neighborhood over and over and over again. She's got to be somewhere."
Abbreviated church services will be held at the wardhouse today, allowing the staging site for the search to remain functional.
"They are making special consideration for us," Hill said of local church leaders.
More than a dozen members of the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary in Utah took part in Saturday's search. Thelma Soares, mother of slain Salt Lake City resident Lori Hacking, also volunteered at the command center. Hacking was shot to death by her husband, Mark Hacking, in 2004. Her body was dumped in a trash bin before being discovered in the city landfill months later.
The search for Destiny is expected to continue today throughout the city, Rachael Norton said. Volunteers also are expected to look for the youngster during Monday's Pioneer Day Parade in downtown Salt Lake City.
Looking for Destiny
l Destiny Anne Norton, 5, disappeared the evening of July 16 from the backyard of her home at 721 S. 500 East in Salt Lake City.
l She is 3 feet 6 inches tall, with short blond hair with green streaks. She has silver caps on upper and lower teeth. Destiny, who also goes by "Annie," was last seen wearing an adult-size, long-sleeved, black-and-gray-striped shirt.
l Anyone with information is asked to call 801-799-4636, or send tips to http://www.tipsforcash.com. A $30,000 reward is being offered for the girl's return.