ORLANDO, Fla. – A team of more than 30 Orlando police officers searched a wooded, swampy area Friday for evidence in the disappearance of Michelle Parker.
Parker vanished in 2011 the day after she and her ex-fiancee, Dale Smith Jr., appeared on TV's "The People's Court."
They were fighting over her engagement ring.
Orlando police investigators say Parker dropped off her twin 3-year-olds with Smith, and she was never seen again.
Smith remains a suspect, according to Orlando police investigators.
As part of a training exercise Friday, searchers were back out at a field they had searched when Parker first vanished.
They were not looking for her remains, but her mother tells Local 6 they were looking for something vital to the investigation.
"If they find what they're looking for, there's going to be some handcuffs," said Yvonne Stewart, who watched the searchers from across the field. "If you look at Michelle's picture on the refrigerator just a little bit too long, it comes back, and then you just relive it."
Her father, Brad Parker, also watched from a distance.
"I got hope," he said. "Until I find evidence of Michelle's bones, I'll never give up."
Stewart filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Smith last year.
Her attorney, John Dill, told Local 6 on Friday he plans on deposing Smith at the end of March or early April.
Stewart said it's an attempt to make him tell investigators about what he knows concerning Parker's disappearance.
