Landfill search for 17-year-old girl's body extended

George Hunter
The Detroit News

Lenox Township – The search for the body of a 17-year-old Eastpointe girl in a mountainous Metro Detroit landfill has been extended again and will continue for at least another two weeks as Detroit police officials look for the deceased teen.

Zion Foster

Operation Zion was launched in May after Detroit Police detectives learned Eastpointe High School student Zion Foster had been killed and her body likely entombed in a Detroit dumpster that was emptied in the expansive Pine Tree Acres Landfill in Lenox Township.

The search, which is staffed by employees from Detroit's police, fire and public works departments who volunteer for the overtime details, was scheduled to end Monday, after the effort had been extended for a month in early August.

But Assistant Police Chief Charles Fitzgerald on Sunday issued a memo announcing: "Operation Zion has been extended two more weeks."

"The team is getting close to finishing the cell they've been digging in for the past four months," Fitzgerald wrote.

The tentative end date for the detail now is Oct. 2, Fitzgerald said.

Zion was reported missing Jan. 5. Police believe she was killed within weeks of her disappearance, so crews searching through the landfill have been homing in on mail and other documents in that timeframe.

Detroit police officials have named Zion's cousin, 23-year-old Jaylin Brazier, as a person of interest in her killing. Police submitted a warrant to Wayne County prosecutors seeking murder charges.

Operation Zion began May 31 when engineers from the Detroit Public Works built a road allowing access to the 100-foot-by-100-foot mountain of trash where they believe the girl's body is buried. The search began June 24.

In addition to about 25 Detroit police officers, the search also involves equipment and personnel from the city's fire department and public works office. About 55 people are involved in the operation, although the number fluctuates from day to day, officials said.

Authorities from across Metro Detroit assist the Detroit Police department in searching the Pine Tree Acres Landfill, in Lenox, for the body of Zion Foster, July 20, 2022. Zion was reported missing on Jan. 5 and police have said they believe the 17-year-old was slain within weeks of her disappearance. The Eastpointe High School student's body likely was placed into a dumpster, which was emptied at the landfill, investigators said.

Some of the searchers are temporarily reassigned from their normal positions, requiring most of those posts to be filled by other officers. Other officers come in on their days off and are aid overtime, police officials said.

Police did not say Thursday how much the operation has cost to date, but in late July, officials told The Detroit News the detail had cost more than $150,000. It costs between $450-$500 to feed the crew each day, Detroit Public Safety Foundation Director Patti Kukula said. She said restaurants have donated food and other supplies, but that the foundation continues seeking donations.

Assistant Prosecutor Maria Miller said a warrant seeking murder charges in the Zion case was submitted by police, although she did not confirm whether Brazier was the subject. The case remains under investigation.

Detroit Police detective Darrell Dawson, left, decontaminates his goggles after searching for the body of Zion Foster at the Pine Tree Acres Landfill and Detroit Fire Scott Webb carries a bag of used hazmat suits for disposal in Lenox, Mich. on July 21, 2022. Zion was reported missing on Jan. 5 and police have said they believe the 17-year-old was slain within weeks of her disappearance. The Eastpointe High School student's body likely was placed into a dumpster, which was emptied at the landfill, investigators said.

A crew of Detroit police officers clad in Hazmat suits to ward off possible carcinogens in the landfill sift through between 30 and 50 truckloads of trash per day, five days a week. The other two days are spent maintaining equipment.

The dates on bills and other discarded documents are recorded and analyzed to determine the likelihood that Zion's remains are buried nearby. That allows planners to adjust where they plan to dig.

The Detroit Public Safety Foundation is accepting donations for Operation Zion. For information, visit www.detroitpublicsafety.org.

ghunter@detroitnews.com

(313) 222-2134

Twitter: @GeorgeHunter_DN