Search of landfill in Powell case turns up books, map

A search and rescue team has finished combing through 20,000 pounds of paper at a landfill near Graham, Wash., where Josh Powell was seen the day before he killed his two sons and himself.

Volunteers recovered papers and books belonging to Powell and his missing wife, Susan. Also found was a map of Utah, the state where Susan disappeared in December 2009.

“It took a lot of people a lot of time to look at every piece of it and pull out whatever we deemed to have any type of evidentiary value,” said Detective Ed Troyer with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office.

Troyer said they were led to the landfill by someone who knew Powell, and told police he dropped off a box of items there the day before he killed his children in a gas-fueled blaze at his Graham rental home.

“We’ll take what we have and analyze it and determine if it has evidentiary value or if it leads us to another location,” Troyer said.

Last week, authorities found a blood-stained comforter in a storage unit Powell had rented. It was sent to a lab for further testing.