County approves money for search for student's remains

Saturday, March 24, 2007

(3/23/07 - HOUSTON) -- Law-enforcement officials reversed themselves Friday, saying they probably would launch a search of Houston's overflowing landfills in hopes of finding the remains of a local Texas A&M University student whose ex-boyfriend confessed to killing her.

Investigators say Timothy Wayne Shepherd, 27, confessed Wednesday to strangling 19-year-old Tynesha Stewart, who disappeared last week. Shepherd, who is charged with murder and being held on $250,000 bond, apparently was angry that Stewart had begun seeing someone else.

Officials first thought that Shepherd had disposed of the body in a large commercial trash bin that had since been emptied, but they now believe Stewart's body was dismembered, placed in various containers, and scattered in several trash bins, making recovery even more difficult.

Lt. John Martin, a veteran spokesman for the Harris County Sheriff's Department, struggled to discuss the case Friday.

"That's the belief now, that she was most likely dismembered and that her, um ..." Martin said before pausing. "This is extremely difficult. We're trying very hard to talk about this in a manner that conveys some dignity and some measure of respect, and this is something that just is utterly without dignity and without respect."

Sheriff's officials had decided against launching a costly and time-consuming search of a landfill for any of Stewart's remains, triggering anger from Stewart's family and friends.

After several high-profile complaints from U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, state Rep. Sylvester Turner and community activist Quannel X, among others, department officials reconsidered.

By Friday afternoon, Harris County Sheriff Tommy Thomas decided to take the decision to an emergency meeting of Commissioners Court, which approved spending as much as $500,000 in the effort to recover Stewart's remains.

Investigators are considering excavating and searching as much as 40,000 tons of trash as much as 20 feet deep at a local landfill in hopes of finding Stewart's remains.

Speaking of Stewart's family, Thomas said, "They are aware of the odds we are up against."

Martin said the department had met several times with officials at Waste Management Inc. about how they might find Stewart's body. They then quarantined a two- to three-acre section of a massive landfill in the Houston suburb of Atascocita, but estimated there was only about a 65 percent chance that Stewart's body was there. With the news that Stewart's body may have been dismembered and dispersed, those odds dropped much further.

"Now we're faced with the possibility that she may have actually gone to different facilities," Martin said.

Martin said Waste Management personnel have told the department they will need time to clear a search area and a path for the manpower and equipment needed to sort through tons of household and commercial waste. Martin said he suspected a search could begin no earlier than Sunday, and he was unable to estimate how many people might be needed for such an effort.

Stewart has two uncles playing football in the National Football League -- Aaron Glenn of the Dallas Cowboys and Jason Glenn, who played for the Minnesota Vikings last year.

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