Police Searching Landfill for Missing Woman Ashley Elkins as Ex Is Accused of Lying to Police

Authorities are searching for the remains of Ashley Elkins at a landfill in Michigan following her disappearance nearly two weeks ago, according to multiple reports. 

On Monday, Jan. 13, law enforcement agencies visited the Pine Tree Acres Landfill in Macomb County’s Lenox Township to search for the body of Elkins, 30, who has been missing since Jan. 2, the Associated Press, Fox 2 Detroit and The Detroit News reported. 

Roseville Police Chief Mitch Berlin confirmed that 40 to 50 officers were searching the area and that evidence gathered by police in the investigation led them to the location, according to the outlets.

“We traced (our evidence) from Roseville all the way here, and then worked with engineers and Waste Management surveyors to pinpoint an approximate six, seven-acre parcel where evidence would be located,” said Berlin, per The Detroit News. 

Berlin shared that the authorities are “moving in the right direction” and they’ll return to the site on Tuesday, Jan. 14., the outlet reported. 

In photos published by AP and The Detroit News, a search team dressed in yellow suits is seen combing through the vast snow-covered area.

Police from several agencies joined the search at the site including Warren, Shelby Township, Chesterfield Townships and Macomb County investigators, along with search dogs from The Ohio Department of Natural Resources, The Detroit News reported.

Hairstylist and mother of two, Elkins, was last seen leaving her Warren, Mich., home on Jan. 2, the Warren Police Department previously said in a statement.

On Jan. 8, Elkins’ ex-boyfriend DeAndre Howard Booker was arrested and charged with lying to police in connection to the case following a search at his home in Roseville, Lieutenant John Gajewski with the Warren police confirmed to PEOPLE. 

Police collected several items during the search including a trash dumpster and found Elkins’ vehicle near Booker’s residence. Information in the investigation indicated that Elkins was at Booker’s house before she disappeared and that a “crime of violence” took place there, Gajewski claimed in the police statement.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

Elkins’ mother Monika alleged that before her daughter disappeared, Booker visited Elkins’ home after scheduling a hair appointment under a fake name, per WXYZ and Click On Detroit.

“He knocked on the front door and the side door and he left,” Monika told  WXYZ, “And here, it’s… days later and she’s gone.” Gajewski declined to comment on Monika’s allegation. 

Maycomb County jail records state that Booker is being held without bond. He will be arraigned on Thursday, Jan. 16. The investigation is ongoing.

PEOPLE has reached out to the Roseville Police Department, which is now the primary investigative agency, for further comment at this time.