Search for missing 5-year-old continues nearby

More than 2,000 tons of trash has been searched at a landfill 17 miles west of Maricopa for the remains of Jhessye Shockley, the 5-year-old Glendale girl investigators believe was killed and thrown into a Tempe trash receptacle.

The girl was reported missing Oct. 11.

The search, led by the Glendale Police Department, has been ongoing for six weeks, said Tracey Breeden, public information officer for GPD.

She said searchers are going through nearly 50 dump truck loads a day.

“We are still in the western half of the area we identified as the most probable area for finding Jhessye’s remains,” Breeden said Wednesday.

“There’s a road actually built that splits the western half from the eastern half so the heavy equipment can run back and forth on it and dig into the pit on the west side.”