Search intensifies for missing woman after her belongings are found at man's home in Third Ward
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The search is intensifying for a Houston woman who has been missing for three weeks.
The family of 37-year-old Brittany Burfield says they fear the worst as EquuSearch volunteers returned to look for her.
She was last seen on June 25.
On Thursday, homicide detectives arrested Alex Jerome Haggerty, an acquaintance of Burfield, on an unrelated charge for choking a woman.
Investigators searched his home on Drew Street in Third Ward and said they found some of Burfield's clothes and other personal items in the yard.
EquuSearch volunteers used search dogs on Friday to sniff around a dilapidated, abandoned house on Drew Street.
The search was called off for the day just before 4 p.m.
Haggerty was questioned about her disappearance.
"I think he knows more than he's telling me. But maybe he'll get a conscience today and we'll sit down again and maybe we'll get a little bit more information," said Houston Police Detective Ken Fregia.
Burfield's relatives are determined to know what happened to her.
"The hardest part is us not knowing. The very, very hardest part is spending two and a half weeks not knowing what's going on with my daughter," said Tricia Valentine, Burfield's mother.
EquuSearch volunteers say they are battling extreme heat to find Burfield, but they won't give up.
"Weather conditions are not on our side. One of our guys passed out and had seizures yesterday. We had to get an ambulance outside here," said EquuSearch's Tim Miller.
Burfield has a two-inch tattoo of a female Egyptian eye on the back of her neck.
She was last seen wearing black shorts and a black V-neck shirt. If you have any information about Brittany's disappearance, you're urged to call police.
SEE ALSO: Family of missing 37-year-old woman fears the worst in her disappearance
