A man's body was found during the search for Phylicia Barnes

CATONSVILLE, Md. - Acting on a tip, Baltimore police organized a search of Patapsco State Park, in between Baltimore and Howard County. It is the most well-coordinated effort to date.

"Actionable intelligence information has led us back to Patapsco State Park," said Baltimore Police Commissioner Fred Bealefeld.

How the information was learned is kept a secret, but the effort on Saturday shows it must have been credible. Five-hundred people helped in the search for 16-year-old Phylicia Barnes.

A team of agencies from the Civil Air Patrol, law enforcement across the state, the FBI, DNR, students at Coppin State University, and more than 25 trained dogs.

"We have absolutely no doubt in our minds that something terrible has happened to her and we're working very hard to figure that out," said Anthony Guglielmi, Baltimore police spokesman.

Phylicia Barnes disappeared on December 28, 2010, while staying with her sister in a Northwest Baltimore apartment. Police have conducted over 30 interviews, searched homes, vehicles, and many other areas of interest.

But Saturday's effort was the largest to date. After 10 hours, the case is at a dead end.

"We're very much back at square one. We have no solid intelligence in terms of Phylicia's whereabouts,” said Guglielmi.

Crews searched along the perimeter of the park, focusing on vacant buildings.
Some articles were found, but detectives determined nothing pertains to Barnes.
The extensive ground search takes them right back to the beginning - not a trace after more than three months, leaving many questions for Barnes' family, police and the community.

"It's frustrating. It's very frustrating, this case, because we've been at it for three months now and we're not very far," said Guglielmi.

Unrelated to the Barnes case, searchers did find a man's decomposed body in the park. It was handed over to the medical examiner's office for an autopsy and identification.

If you have any information on the Barnes case, you’re asked to call detectives working the case: 1-855-223-0033.