LENOX TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — Tuesday marks the beginning of a grueling weekslong landfill search for Zion Foster of Eastpointe who went missing in January.
Police believe the 17-year-old's body is buried under mountains of garbage at a landfill in Lenox Township. Investigators said her cousin confessed to dumping her body.
The search will be a massive undertaking and will involve around 70 people per day, working eight to nine hour days and could last six to eight weeks.
Ciera Milton, Zion's mother, told 7 Action News, “We don’t know if it’ll be the first day (that they find Zion), second day, the first few weeks or if it’ll ever happen.”
She's grateful for an imminent search for her daughter, but Milton said the two-and-a-half week wait since the search announcement has been emotionally taxing on her children.
“They’re really starting to come to grips with this situation, and so I see the breakdown," she explained. "I see the emotional turmoil that they’re experiencing at this moment, and they know that it’s supposed to be tomorrow. So it’s been a lot of sleepless nights."
Those are nights and days Detroit police and the Detroit Public Safety Foundation have worked to gather the resources needed for the best chance at making a recovery.
Patti Kukula, the foundation's executive director, told 7 Action News, “Since we’ve had the press conference, there’s been just enormous calls of support since there’s so much needed.”
In response to generosity from organizations and the public, Milton said, “That’s amazing. With so much that’s wrong with the world, so much that’s bad with the world you get to experience and see the good.”
She said she plans to be near the landfill search site as often as she can. On Monday, 7 Action News spotted the Detroit Fire Department Decontamination Unit set up.
"We’re going have a warm week suiting up in all of the gear with the respirators and the complete hazmat outfit and the heavy steel boots, making sure that they’re protected from any kind of toxins that may be there as they’re doing the search. Nobody has been frightened by this, they're ready to jump in and go,” Kukula explained.
A board with photos of Zion was created.
"And this picture board is going to have the (siblings') writing thanking the first responders. Every day when that first responder shows up, they’re going to look into this family’s eyes, and they’re going to work even harder to locate Zion," Kukula said.
The Detroit Public Safety Foundation is still looking for donations so that enough food can be purchased for search crews in the coming weeks.
If interested, you can head to detroitpublicsafety.org. You can also call 313-434-2761.
