PHOENIX (AP) - Phoenix police are working on plans to search a landfill for the body of a missing woman whose ex-boyfriend is charged with murder in her May disappearance, a police spokesman said Wednesday.
A search for Christine Mustafa’s body “is still in the planning stages” but officials hope the search can begin “in the next month or so,” Sgt. Alan Pfohl said.
Pfohl said additional information would be released after plans are finalized. KNXV-TV (https://goo.gl/fcNUi9 ) reported that the search would be an “enormous undertaking” involving heavy equipment.
Robert John Interval on June 27 pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. His trial in Maricopa County Superior Court is scheduled for Feb. 22.
Mustafa was last seen by a co-worker as she left work on May 10. Her sister was the last person to hear from her that afternoon.
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.
The Arizona Republic (https://goo.gl/NCeini ) reported June 8 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.
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