Search for missing Phoenix woman comes to end; no remains found
Jan 21, 2018, 12:54 PM | Updated: Jan 23, 2018, 8:53 am
(Phoenix Police Department via AP)
PHOENIX — A three-month landfill search for a missing Phoenix mother has finished with no signs of her remains, the Phoenix Police Department said.
Police said 34-year-old Christine Mustafa hasn’t been seen since May of last year.
More than 275 volunteers from multiple agencies sifted through 43,001,653 pounds of debris in the attempt to locate her body.
Sgt. Alan Pfolh said the search will continue in other locations.
“The landfill was the best place to search based on the evidence that the detectives had so far,” he said.
The search for Mustafa’s remains began back in October, more than five months after she was originally reported missing.
Police extended the time frame allotted for the search by three weeks back in December in order to give detectives more time to comb through a Phoenix landfill.
Mustafa’s ex-boyfriend, Robert John Interval, has been charged with first-degree murder in the case. He has pleaded not guilty and is expected to go on trial by Feb. 22.
Family members told police that Mustafa feared Interval and planned to leave him.
Police checking on Mustafa at her family’s request found her car, purse and cellphone at the couple’s home near Deer Valley and Cave Creek roads.
The Arizona Republic reported that court documents said police investigators found pillowcases and bedsheets containing a small amount of “possible blood-stained material” during a May 15 search.
The documents also said a chemical sprayed on the walls as part of the investigation had a reaction that indicated the presence of blood or other biological material.
KTAR News’ Ashley Flood and Martha Maurer contributed to this report.