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The Grays Harbor Sheriffs Office served search warrants on two residences outside the McCleary city limits Friday and began combing through junk cars and a number of buildings.
The search on the properties in question intensified Saturday, bumping up the number of civilian search-and-rescue experts and law enforcement personnel from 30 on Friday to 50 on Saturday. Search dogs also were brought in.
Chief Criminal Deputy Dave Pimentel said he conducted interviews with a number of people Friday but that no suspects have been named, and no arrests have been made.
So far, we have not found that smoking gun; we have not found anything that would jump out at us. But without forensic analysis done at the lab, we cant really say whether what weve found will help our cause or not, he said.
Baum disappeared a few blocks away from her home near downtown McCleary. Despite two confirmed sightings within blocks of her house, no trace of her has been found.
Pimentel said he couldnt reveal what led detectives to two isolated locations along Foreman Road, just outside McCleary. Deputies were restricting access to the road and checking licenses to make sure only local residents could get through a road block. The restrictions were in place through Sunday.
Detectives combed an abandoned home and an adjoining shed or barn from morning until night Friday. The property is on about 11 acres of land, Pimentel said. On Saturday, Pimentel said, detectives brought in search dogs and search-and-rescue experts to help search the surrounding brush, trees and grasslands.
At a second site, detectives set up a mobile command unit from the King County Sheriffs Office near dozens of junk cars and debris at a second residence along Foreman Road. The property owners were told to leave the area.
Investigators have been wearing white protective gear during their search of the buildings. Pimentel said thats typical when gathering evidence, although many people link the clothing to potential drug lab investigations. Pimentel said there was no fear either location housed a drug or meth lab.
Pimentel noted that although the search warrants are getting a lot of attention, the sheriffs office has served dozens of search warrants during the course of the three-month investigation.
This is just one tip weve received that we decided to follow up on out of thousands, literally, thousands of tips, Pimentel said. The people we talked to yesterday were among the hundreds and hundreds of people weve talked to, as well..
