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(near Magdalena, NM) One
thing appears certain following a two-day-long, extensive search
for the remains of Girly Chew Hossencofft west of Magdalena.
Her body was not found. That outcome alone may yield deflated
headlines in other news sources. Not here. And for good reason...
At the end of this particular search, the attention focussed
squarely on the bottom of a mine shaft. The shaft is located
near the site where Girly's bloodstained clothing was found along
Highway-60 last September.
Girly's estranged husband, Diazien Hossencofft, and his friend
Linda Henning have been charged with Girly's murder.
According to Albuquerque Police Detective John Walsh, investigators
exploring the mine Sunday discovered "remains (that) appear
to be animal in nature." But that's not all. Walsh added
that investigators also found "a couple of other items of
intrigue to us that we'll be taking a closer look at."
When asked if the "items of intrigue" might be Girly's
missing purse, ring or bracelet, Walsh responded, "What
I'm not able to go into is the intricacies of exactly what has
been discovered." As for the apparent animal remains, Walsh
said that they will likely be taken to the Anthropology Department
at the University of New Mexico for examination.
An Albuquerque man named Bill Miller is know to have hunted in
the Magdalena area.
According to court documents, Miller told a Special Grand Jury
that Diazien Hossencofft twice asked him to help kill Girly.
Miller has not been charged in this case. His lawyer says Miller
had nothing to do with Girly's disappearance or fate. But Miller
has been a focal point of the investigation. According to one
of several search warrants concerning Miller's property, investigators
have also found magazines which address militia and survival
activies.
Whatever searchers found at the bottom of a mine shaft, it caught
the attention of three cadaver dogs.
The large scale search started just after eight o'clock Saturday
morning. Following an initial briefing by Albuquerque Police
Sergeant Damon Faye at a picnic area along Highway 60, about
80-searchers deployed to a variety of areas on the Cat Mountain
Ranch. Two specially-equipped helicopters and a plane searched
from the air. This search covered between ten and twelve square
miles.
A key moment came Saturday afternoon. Three of the four cadaver
dogs reacted to a scent coming from a very old mine. There are
seemingly countless abandoned mines throughout the search area.
But this would be the only one to get such a reaction from the
dogs. A cadaver dog named Brenda pawed at the ground; her particular
signal for smelling flesh or bone. Soon, a team of specially
trained Albuquerque Fighters was flown in aboard KOAT-TV's Chopper
7. The team's mission would be to "shore-up" the mine
(making it safe for entry) and explore it. That would require
most of Sunday.
Mine shafts can be deadly. Especially old ones. In New Mexico,
it's not uncommon to hear reports that someone was injured or
killed after falling into a mine shaft. The Albuquerque Firefighters
preparing to enter a dilapidated mine on the Cat Mountain Ranch
the morning of Sunday, June 25 knew that all too well. They began
their operation at 8:30 in the morning. It would end more than
six hours later.
First, they had to make the mine safe for entering. The meticulous
safety effort continued throughout the descent. Shoring-up appeared
to involve the placing of narrow wooden planks inside the mine
that would be secured to offer additional support to the structure.
The shaft's entry is shaped roughly like a square, a hole approximately
five feet by three feet. The depth appeared to be between twenty
and thirty-five feet. One at a time, a member of the team would
eventually be lowered into the mine for a solo job. Each person
would take a shift inside the darkness to remove the loosely
packed debris that cluttered the length of the shaft. Lots of
debris. Huge, flat pieces of what appeared to be severely rusted
tin or metal. Smaller pieces, too. Most of it bent or twisted.
The largest pieces appeared to be around ten feet long and up
to three feet wide. These are very general estimates. The removal
of this type of debris lasted until the final moment of the operation.
Throughout this time, what appeared to be five gallon white buckets
were occasionally lowered into the mine by rope, and then lifted
out. At times, a forensics worker poured what seemed to be a
clear liquid into the bucket.
"Hendricks! Want to come out?," a man peering down
into the mine yelled out. "Come on out, you hard worker.
You've been down there for about an hour," he continued.
Less than ten minutes later, the team reached the bottom of the
shaft.
Investigators have not indicated the size of what appeared to
be a dead animal found at the bottom of the mine. It would be
difficult for any medium or large sized animal to find its way
to the bottom of that shaft. That's IF all of the debris stuffed
into the shaft was there BEFORE the animal arrived on the scene.
Girly Chew Hossencofft's bloodied clothing was found the day
after her September 9, 1999 disappearance. Now more than nine
months later--and about a mile from where her clothes were discovered--investigators
have found what appears to the remains of a dead animal and a
"couple of other items of intrigue" at the bottom of
a mine shaft.
The question that still hangs in the air, "Is her body nearby?"
Shortly after the mine search concluded, Detective Walsh stated,
"I do foresee an imminent search to follow this one." |