Glendale police announced yesterday that the search for the body of 5-year-old Jhessye Shockley in the Butterfield Landfill came to an end.
Rick St. John, assistant chief of police, said investigators know she's in the landfill somewhere, which has 691 acres full of garbage in total, but she wasn't in the area police had pinpointed for the search.
He added that there's "irrefutable evidence" she's there somewhere, although he declined to elaborate on what that evidence is.
That means that if anyone's going to be charged in the girl's death, prosecutors will have to do so without Jhessye's body ever being found.
The main suspect in the case, as it has been from the get-go, is Jhessye's mother, Jerice Hunter.
Much of the evidence against Hunter that's been explained by police is detailed in this post.
St. John said that even though Jhessye's body wasn't found, police believe they have enough evidence to charge Hunter, and are "very near" the point of presenting the case to the County Attorney's Office.
St. John noted that similar cases have been successfully prosecuted in the county without police ever finding a body.
That said, do you think someone can still be convicted in Jhessye's death?
Cast your vote below:
