First Day of Search for McCaffrey Uneventful

CHARLESTON COUNTY — Charleston County Sheriff's Office spokesman Major James Brady said searchers have not found any new evidence in the disappearance of Gayle McCaffrey during the first several hours of searching a large property on Highway 61.

On Wednesday , and that the missing woman's husband Robert McCaffrey is the chief suspect. .

"To this point we've not located any additional evidence in support of the case, which in and of itself is not necessarily indicative of the case," Brady told media outlets around 2:30 p.m. Thursday. "We are able to have eliminated some areas up there off 61 through the search."

Brady said the 12 agencies participating in the search planned to wrap up the first day around 4-5 p.m. and head back to the property Friday to finish sweeping the area.

Approximately 150 people were searching the property in a grid pattern and using search dogs. In addition to the Sheriff's Office, Charleston County Volunteer Rescue Squad, the Charleston and Berkeley Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), Charleston County Emergency Management, Charleston County EMS, Charleston Fire Department, James Island Fire Department, St. Andrews Fire Department, Low Country Search Dogs, Summerville Fire and Rescue, Charleston County Transportation Department and some staff members from the Citadel, where Gayle McCaffrey worked for several years, are involved in the search.

Brady said the team is expected to return to the property on Friday.

"Any time that the investigation goes at length, it's discouraging, but we know that through doing the job that we do, through investigations, that sometimes they're not immediately solved," Brady said. "Our main goal from day one has always been to bring Gayle McCaffrey home, to investigate the case and to make charges where appropriate, and that's still our goal."