What began as a search for a missing 28-year-old Worland woman turned into what was believed to be a recovery mission as Washakie County Search and Rescue spent three days draining a pond in hopes of finding Breanna Mitchell.

Washakie County Sheriff Austin Brookwell said on Friday they brought in a cadaver dog from Park County Search and Rescue and the dog indicated on a spot near a pond where a bloodhound earlier in the week had also indicated Mitchell's presence. Due to the extreme heat, the handler asked to come back on Saturday to confirm the dog's hit. Brookwell said the dog hit on the same exact spot at the pond.

"We're hoping, I'm hoping she's there [at the pond], just so the family has closure," Brookwell said in an interview Monday.

A diver from Park County Search and Rescue was called in and spent about two hours diving in the murky, muddy water but was unable to find anything. The BLM district manager was contacted at that point for permission to drain the pond and work began on Saturday. Brookwell said about 10 search and rescue members have been rotating shifts to drain the pond using four different pumps. He said there are at least three members there at night, ensuring someone is there if Mitchell is found.

On Tuesday morning, he announced on social media that after three days of pumping Search and Rescue crews were able to go through the mud of the pond and did not locate anyone.

On Tuesday, Brookwell said, "At this time, we have no known direction of travel nor any more clues to go off of that would help narrow the search area down. I will be getting in contact with some sheriffs surrounding Washakie County to see if they are willing to send a few members of their Seach and Rescue Squads to give one final grid search of the area. Once I get the details of this lined out, I will do a post to see if people would like to help."

In Monday's interview he said that the cadaver dog's handler said they could come back but it would need to be when it was cooler, likely in the fall sometime.

CANINE HELP

Brookwell said despite searches on the ground and air by multiple agencies and volunteers, the strongest indications have come from the dogs to narrow the search, first a bloodhound from Red Flyer of Fremont County and then the cadaver dog from Park County Search and Rescue.

Mitchell was first reported missing on Saturday, July 22, by her boyfriend Christian Romo. He had gotten a call and a text from Mitchell about 2 a.m. that she had gotten stuck off of the Nowater Road. He had searched for her but when he could not find her, reported her missing to law enforcement Saturday night and Search and Rescue began searching that night and has been searching every day since.

Mitchell had turned off the Nowater Road about six miles from Worland onto a two-track road and then turned off that road. "It appeared like she didn't want to go down the road anymore and she turned around in the sagebrush," Brookwell said. The black Ford Expedition then got stuck or high centered on the berms on the side of the road.

When the vehicle was being towed it was noted that the four-wheel drive appeared to not have been functioning for a while and interviews with friends indicated it was not the type of vehicle to take "four-wheeling."

Brookwell said Romo has cooperated with the Sheriff's Office, including allowing access to his phone and text messages and to show areas that he had searched.

Mitchell was officially entered as a missing person into the National Crime Information Center when a family member filed a report on July 24.

COMMUNITY

SUPPORT

On Tuesday, a large-scale search was conducted that evening with more than 20 civilian volunteers and about 15 Search and Rescue members. They also had Civil Air Patrol and Guardian Flight assisting in the air. People searched on foot, horseback, vehicles, all-terrain vehicles and side-by-sides. Brookwell said with the vehicle located earlier in the week it gave them a slightly smaller area to search, but there was still a lot of land to cover.

Brookwell has been amazed by the support from the community. "Just the amount of civilians that have been wanting to help is pretty unbelievable. You know, it's cool to see the community come together for somebody they didn't even necessarily know or even met before. We've had numerous people donate their time."

Mitchell's vehicle had been located on Sunday, by Mel Walker, a former Search and Rescue captain, who also saw bare footprints up and down the road where Mitchell initially turned off of Nowater Road.

"But he could only follow them for so long and kind of lost track of them. But truly, there's either hard dirt or sand out there," Brookwell said, noting the prints were hard to track after about 1,000 feet.

A boot and a shirt were located by civilian volunteers. He said her mother, Tina Richins, had indicated that the boot resembled a pair she had seen her daughter wearing in a picture posted on social media. "One of the civilians on horseback found a boot ... it's probably a mile maybe a half a mile from where her vehicle was, way off in like not even close to the road. And the shirt was on the other side."

He said the dog "kind of indicated" on the items but they had been touched by Mitchell's mom and Brookwell.

The bloodhound brought in Tuesday indicated the footprints were Mitchell's. The dog also found footprints around the pond and indicated that they were Mitchell's. Brookwell said they used items in the vehicle for the scent for the bloodhound. The pond was the same pond that the cadaver dog also had found later in the week. Brookwell said they did not tell the handler what the bloodhound had found not wanting to influence the dog or the handler.

INVESTIGATION

In addition to searching the Nowater badlands, search warrants for her cell phone and social media accounts were obtained. Brookwell said "We're trying to pour over text messages and phone data, contacts and all that stuff, but we haven't seen anything that indicates any criminal action towards harming her. Through the information we have so far, we can use the cliché, there's no indication of foul play. We haven't discovered anything and a lot of people have come forward and talked to us."

He said the Federal Bureau of Investigation was also called in to assist last week and was able to locate everywhere her cellphone pinged off a tower in the Nowater area. He said while it was a large area, the pond that both dogs tracked to during their searches is almost in the center of the area. He said the area where the pings were is about as large as the City of Worland.

Since Saturday, July 29, Search and Rescue has been at the pond, ensuring four pumps that they were able to secure continue to run. Brookwell said the pond is a reservoir so the water is being pumped over a dyke to hopefully run down into another reservoir and be used by cattle grazing out there.

"All of my search and rescue individuals that have participated are champs. Washakie County is very lucky to have the dedicated people in search and rescue that they do," Brookwell said.

In addition to Search and Rescue, Brookwell has three deputies conducting interviews and chasing other leads and information. The other patrol deputies are handling other calls that come in and Brookwell is ensuring everyone has what they need; coordinating search and rescue with Commander Dave Michel, and handling public relations on the search including relaying any new developments directly to Richins.

Richins, when contacted last week, declined to comment, noting the family was letting Sheriff Brookwell handle press information.

Brookwell announced Tuesday, "If we are unable to locate any more clues or Breanna after this search, I will then suspend the search efforts in the badlands. I absolutely need to give my search and rescue teams a break from searching.

"If civilians want to go out into the area to continue searching, you may. Please be advised this area is rough terrain, there are many rattlesnakes and it is very hot. Bring water, food, and do not get lost out there, as it is very easy to do. If you find something that appears human-related or possibly related to this case, do not touch it or anything around it. Try to get the GPS coordinates of the item and call the Sheriff's Office at 307-347-2242."