New McCaffrey Search Comes up Empty

UPDATED: 4:48 p.m. Feb. 4, 2013: No new evidence was discovered in the case of missing West Ashley mother Gayle McCaffrey, according to a Charleston County Sheriff's Office statement.

Searchers concluded the effort near Magnolia Plantation on Ashley River Road around 3 p.m. without turning up anything new in the case.

McCaffrey was reported missing by her husband, and CCSO chief suspect Robert McCaffrey on St. Patrick's Day 2012.

ORIGINAL: Search parties today will return to a tract of land on Hwy. 61 in West Ashley to search for missing Charleston mom Gayle McCaffrey.

Charleston County deputies and search parties have previously searched this tract of land, near Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, back in May of 2012. No clues were found during that canvas, but conditions have changed.

"The search is not based on new case information. Investigators wanted to canvass the site again after a change in the terrain due to seasons change," said Maj. Jim Brady, sheriff's spokesman.

The search is expected to begin around 9:00 a.m.

McCaffrey has been missing for nearly a year. In March 2012, her husband reported her missing after he returned from an overnight trip to Easley, S.C.

Sheriff Al Cannon has the husband, Robert McCaffrey, as the focus of his office's criminal probe into McCaffrey's presumed death, but there have been no criminal charges.

Gayle McCaffrey is described as a white female who stands 5 feet, 2 inches tall and weighs about 155 pounds. She has reddish-brown hair and blue eyes.