One more day of intense searching answered an important question about a missing firefighter and mother of two in Brevard County.
Brandy Hall's body is not in the pond where searchers have been looking for five days, WESH 2 News reported.
"She's not here," said Lt. Joe Eakins of the Palm Bay Police Department.
But a still more important question remains unanswered -- where is Hall? The solution may be in the few bits of evidence divers and searchers have been able to scrape up during the intense search of the pond in which her truck was found submerged.
Police said the 30-foot-deep lake that they drained is the deepest one in Palm Bay. They had to build a dam to drain it.
Miami-Dade County's urban search-and-rescue team is still combing a mile-square area near the pond. Hall's home, where she lives with her husband and two young children, remains quiet.
Police said they still think she might have been killed on Friday, the day her husband was sentenced for a drug conviction, or they think she might have run away. Police said suicide now seems less likely.
"One of the good things is if we haven't found her here, hopefully she's alive somewhere. We just need to find her," Eakins said.
Detectives and crime lab analysts are following up leads and checking to see if she tries to make contact with her children.
For now, the couple's children are staying with relatives.
To comment on this story, send an e-mail to Dan Billow .
Previous Stories:
- August 23, 2006: Still No Sign Of Missing Firefighter
- August 21, 2006: Police: Missing Firefighter May Still Be Alive
Copyright 2006 by WESH.COM. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
