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'May be close to having a breakthrough' | SAPD cadets join urgent search for missing San Antonio woman

Olmos Park police confirm they believe they will find the body of missing mother of four Suzanne Simpson, buried here.

SAN ANTONIO — In the 90-degree heat, with a light and variable wind, thick dust swirls while the roar of heavy equipment fills the air at an east Bexar County landfill.

The work of burying tons of garbage continues like it does all day, every day. But on this day, there is a dedicated team of searchers digging through the trash, hoping and praying to find a missing woman.

Olmos Park police confirm they believe they will find the body of missing mother of four Suzanne Simpson, buried here.

In a statement released to his community, Olmos Park Police Chief Fidel Villegas wrote: "Evidence, statements and solid police investigation has led us there."

Villegas said the Simpson family has provided valuable help in the investigation, which leads them to believe "there is a good chance of recovering Suzanne at that location."

This is day 9 of a desperate search to find the woman after a reported argument with her husband.

Brad Simpson is being held on two charges related to injuries sustained by Suzanne before her disappearance from the couple’s Olmos Park home after witnesses reported seeing them involved in a physical confrontation.

Needing help for the search effort, San Antonio Police confirm they did receive a request for assistance from Olmos Park, so they provided 25 police cadets to assist with the arduous task of examining every scoop of waste retrieved from what they believe is the right place to look.

"The cadets are out there now. We don't know if they will be out there past today. We understand they may be close to having a breakthrough in the case," said Deputy Chief Jesse Salame.

Salame said the effort to help is an important part of cadet training.

"We explained what they are looking for. It's not lost on them what they are searching for," Salame said. "We will debrief with them afterwards. If they need to talk about what they did and what they saw, they have counselors and psychological services if they need them."

Knowing that success in finding what they're after may be hard, Salame said the cadets will get the support they need.

"They are very young in their law enforcement career. We will keep an eye on them, especially if they find something," he said.

The search continued like clockwork starting in the early morning hours.

Just a couple of hundred yards from the open face of the landfill where trucks and equipment are burying newly delivered waste, the small cordoned off area where the cadets are searching is marked by crime scene tape and a pop up tent for shade for the cadets.

Clad in protective suits, they watch each scoop of trash dug up by a giant claw and carefully inspect the waste as it falls into a dump truck. 

Credit: SAPD Police Chief William McManus

Throughout the day, the meticulous work continued with a new truck being filled every two minutes or so. The full trucks are driven to the top most portion of the landfill, where the load is spread on the berm and a second group of cadets goes to work with rakes, making sure every bit of the material is searched. Relentlessly, every three minutes or so, the truck returns to the digging site for another load.

Just before noon, something caught the attention of the diggers. Work paused, a golf cart raced up the hill and the team of searchers gathered around the load to inspect something of interest more closely.

Someone took pictures before the task began again and the truck delivered its load for a more thorough search.

The protective suits came off long enough for a lunch break and then again, under the watchful eye of a drone hovering overhead, the work began in earnest again.

Support vehicles line a lower service road, also keeping watch over the operation. An Olmos Park fire truck is on scene as well as an ambulance, and the Bexar County Mobile Command trailer.

There has been no word on how long the work will continue today.

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