SPRINGFIELD, Neb. (AP) — After spending more than two weeks combing through thousands of tons of garbage, authorities on Friday halted the search for a 4-year-old boy whose body was believed dumped in a landfill.
Brendan Gonzalez' father has admitted to the killing, but no body has been found. The child's mother left the Sarpy County Landfill in tears Friday after being told the search for her son had been fruitless.
Plattsmouth Police Chief Brian Paulsen told the mother that authorities and volunteers had done all they could to find the remains of the boy, who has been missing since Jan. 6.
Hundreds of volunteers combed through 180,000 tons of garbage at the landfill beginning June 9 after the boy's father, Ivan Henk, led investigators to a trash bin at an apartment complex just outside Omaha, where the boy's blood was found.
During a court hearing April 29, Henk shouted that he had killed Brendan and that the boy was the anti-Christ. Henk is now serving a one-year sentence on an unrelated misdemeanor. Henk is the prime suspect in the boy's disappearance, although he has not been charged.
The trash bin where Brendan was believed dumped was emptied at the landfill, and Paulsen said he remains convinced the body is somewhere in the landfill.
However, by Friday searchers were no longer finding promising refuse, such as mail with January dates or addresses at the apartment. complex where Brendan's body was believed dumped.