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Detroit police to begin massive search of landfill to find remains of 17-year-old Zion Foster

‘We know it’s the right thing to do’

LENOX TOWNSHIP, Mich.Detroit police are expected to start a massive search of a Lenox Township landfill on Tuesday to find missing Eastpointe teen Zion Foster.

The search begins Tuesday (May 31). Around 70 people are expected to be assisting in the search each day.

“We’re gonna start early in the morning. It’s important, just as the chief said before to give closure to the family. We know it’s the right thing to do,” Detroit police Cmd. Michael Chambers said.

Police said Tuesday will mark phase one of the search. Crews will use heavy machinery to remove 20 feet of material in the search area.

Foster went missing on Jan. 4. Her cousin, Jaylin Brazier, was the last person to see her alive. Brazier, 23, was sentenced to prison in March for lying to authorities about his involvement in Foster’s disappearance.

He originally denied seeing his cousin at all, only to admit weeks later that he had thrown her body in a dumpster. Brazier said he panicked when he suddenly found his cousin dead, and that’s why he took her body to a dumpster.


'To know that my baby has to be recovered from trash'


A massive search is planned for a 100x100 foot area of Pine Tree Acres landfill in Lenox Township. The landfill is massive.

“To know that my baby has to be recovered from trash,” Foster’s mother, Ciera Milton, said earlier this month. “It’s just so much to miss out on.”

Milton has been begging police for months to search the landfill for her daughter.

“One, Zion is likely deceased and two, that her remains were placed in a dumpster that was then later transported to a landfill here in Lenox Township,” Detroit police Commander Mike McGinnis said earlier this month.

The search could last as long as seven to eight weeks. Waste management said that area has not been disturbed since they got the call from police to preserve it.

Read: Donations, supplies needed to support efforts in search for remains of 17-year-old Zion Foster


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About the Authors
Nick Monacelli headshot

Nick joined the Local 4 team in February of 2015. Prior to that he spent 6 years in Sacramento covering a long list of big stories including wildfires and earthquakes. Raised in Sterling Heights, he is no stranger to the deep history and pride Detroit has to offer.

Kayla Clarke headshot

Kayla is a Web Producer for ClickOnDetroit. Before she joined the team in 2018 she worked at WILX in Lansing as a digital producer.

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