Police say no remains found in search for missing Utah mom

DELTA, Utah -- A search in the Utah desert for a missing mother took a strange turn Thursday when the site that authorities said contained human remains turned up no body parts by the end of the day.

Cadaver dogs discovered the location this week amid a renewed search for Susan Powell, and investigators declared that they had found human remains.

But authorities later said that after digging into the site, they had found no remains. Police did not say why they earlier stated they had found human remains when they hadn't seen any.

"Right now, we haven't found anything except for these scents that these dogs are picking up," West Valley City Police Lt. Bill Merritt said. "We have not come across bones."

Because the site in a remote area of central Utah is on government land, a Bureau of Land Management anthropologist was brought in to determine whether it was part of an ancient burial ground. The scientist later said it wasn't but instead showed signs of recent disturbance.

Investigators then began sifting through what was described as a shallow grave.

"We're not looking at some ancient burial ground," Merritt said. "This is not going to be some cowboy from the West."

Merritt said later Thursday that authorities had only begun to dig into the dirt in the afternoon. By the end of the day, they had dug several feet down but came across no remains.

"Shovel by shovel full," Merritt said. "Every shovel full that comes out is being sifted through. It's a painstaking process.

Police have been searching since Monday in the area near Topaz Mountain in Juab County for any clues in the disappearance of Powell. The site is about 135 miles southwest of the location where she was last seen at her home in West Valley City on Dec. 7, 2009.