Person may have been inside demolished Medical Center building

Friday, November 16, 2007

(11/15/07 - KTRK/HOUSTON) (KTRK) -- Search crews are back on the scene of a demolished Texas Medical Center hotel. They are trying to determine if someone was inside that building at the time of its demolition.

The Crowne Plaza hotel was demolished this past weekend. Now officials are conducting what they're calling a recovery mission for a possible victim.

There is tons of concrete for investigators to sift through. They have been able to narrow down their search zone to one particular area to try to determine if there was someone inside the building when it was demolished.

Jene Bickle's dog, Bell, has an extremely sensitive nose. Bell can smell death.

"He'll tell you right away -- their alerts are very obvious," said Bickle.

Bell is a part of a team of dogs being used to help solve a mystery. A mystery that started with a movement captured on camera. It's a view of a door closing seconds before the building starts coming down. Police say a bystander recorded a similar image as well. That man said he actually saw someone in the building who may have closed the door.

Officials with the company responsible for the demolition say they don't understand how anyone got inside the building moments before it was imploded.

"Yes, there was security here. That is as far as I'm willing to talk right now. I mean you are wasting tape right now," said a worker at the site. "We need to continue with the investigation and figure it out what's going on."

Yesterday, the team of cadaver dogs sensed the presence of blood in the debris.

"The area is probably the twice as size of my car," said Bickle. "But it is three stories that they are pulling down."

Just because the dogs sense blood, it doesn't mean the mystery of how the door closed is solved.

"These dogs are considered forensic dogs, so they could be hitting on blood, if one of the construction people cut their hand or something. They could be hitting on that," said Bickle. "It does not mean that there is a body in there. It could be blood."

The dogs being used have done this type of work a lot. They were used during the Katrina disaster and they were also very instrumental during the BP explosion. Officials plan to have the dogs on site at least today and tomorrow, until they can answer if there was someone inside the building.

The company that was in charge of the implosion is hoping that is not the case. They are working with investigators.
(Copyright © 2007, KTRK-TV)

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