Utah Cold Cases

08/13/2023

It was the August 13, 1995, murder of 6-year-old Rosie Tapia that led to our formation in 2017, and each year on August 13 we do something to honor her. This year, it is a song, "Voices Lost," written for us by Greg Bates. Please watch the whole video, which remembers dozens of people whose deaths or disappearances are not yet resolved. The images are fewer than 10% of Utah's cold cases; later videos will cover all of them.

08/10/2023

PRICE, UTAH - save the date!

PRICE, UTAH - JOIN US for a unique experience August 26! Joe and Mary Santi owned the Price Theatre for many years -- then Joe disappeared. We are pleased to announce that the Price Theatre has agreed to host the premiere of our video podcast, "What Really Happened to Joe Santi?" See long-lost documents. Hear from Joe's granddaughter. Learn what the news media - and police - got all wrong about Joe's disappearance. Did you know Joe Santi? Come share your memories! $5 donation suggested. (We are an all-volunteer nonprofit.)

08/08/2023

In 1984, Hisae Wood was stabbed 107 times at her home in Salt Lake County, Utah. A local man was convicted of 2nd-degree murder, but was he the sole culprit? We got a tip that Hisae's husband solicited or encouraged the killing. Below are facts that support or refute that theory, and what we plan to do next.

In 1970, 63-year-old Elmer Lafloria Wood (“Duffy”) married 23-year-old Hisae Akanuma in Douglas County, Nevada. Duffy was originally from Oklahoma; Hisae was born in Japan. Duffy had quite the colorful past. Burglarizing an Elks Club in El Dorado, Kansas. Cracking a safe at a nightclub in Boise, Idaho. “Quite a few” arrests, as the Nevada Gaming Commission put it in 1965 when Duffy applied to run two slot machines in Minden, Nevada. (His application was denied due to “unsuitable background.”)

After their marriage, Duffy and Hisae moved to Utah. In 1972, they were arrested (twice) for illegal sale of alcohol. In 1975, Duffy and two associates were busted with $15-18,000 worth of co***ne. He did not serve any time, and a few months later he and Hisae bought the old Cowan’s Frostop drive-in at 2926 E. 3300 S.

The new Wood’s Frostop sold burgers and root beer and illegal drugs. One of their best customers was Fred S., who had been in the Woods' home in connection with drugs more than 100 times. On April 26, 1984, Fred and a friend were painting a Jeep at Fred’s house. About 8:30 p.m., they drove to the Wood house (about 3 minutes away) and bought co***ne. The friend paid. At Fred’s suggestion, they went back between 12:30 and 1 a.m. Fred didn’t have money but promised to pay his friend back.

At about 3:30 a.m., Fred told his friend he was running down to the 7-11 to get ci******es for his mother and some colas. He said he had gotten some money from his mother. Instead, he went back to the Wood house. During this encounter, Fred stabbed Hisae 107 times. He wiped his fingerprints and stole a gram of co***ne and some cash. He then returned to his garage, where he appeared “calm, cool, and collected”. He hid his bloody shoes and corduroy pants. His friend did not notice any blood on Fred, but they were using red primer and painting the Jeep red. Fred later asked his friend to say that they had been together all night.

A few hours later, Duffy Wood called a couple of neighbors and asked them to check on his wife. Duffy was in Nevada visiting a friend and said he could not reach Hisae at home or work. The neighbor found Hisae’s body in the living room.

Duffy told police the only person Hisae would have let into the house at night was Fred. Fred was questioned, and initially denied returning to the house alone. In a second interview, however, he confessed. He said he had gone back to buy more co***ne, but that Hisae had suddenly threatened him with a gun. She was strong, and he had retrieved a knife to defend himself. He denied stabbing her more than 4 or 5 times.

Was this a rage killing as prosecutors argued? Their theory was that Fred had returned without money, wanting more coke, and Hisae had refused. At trial, Fred argued self-defense and “toxic co***ne psychosis.” The jury didn’t buy it and he was convicted of second-degree murder. He was paroled after 10 years.

Are there indications that this murder was arranged (or solicited) by Duffy? A number of facts could support or refute either theory:

• Our informant has been quite reliable in other cases. But (s)he was not an eyewitness.

• Duffy called Fred almost every day in the months before the murder. Fred said it was to encourage him to run drugs. He acknowledged occasionally acting as a go-between.

• Duffy allowed Fred to go in the hole (unlike Hisae, who expected payment). At the time of the murder, Fred owed the Woods $90. Wiping out his debt and offering more co***ne could have been an incentive. Or Fred’s debt could have explained Hisae refusing the third transaction, sending Fred into a rage.

• Duffy was conveniently out of town, despite the drive-in having recently reopened and his absence requiring Hisae to run it by herself. Duffy told his friend he didn’t help Hisae that much so his absence wouldn’t be a hardship. Was it to establish an alibi? He flew to Nevada and could easily prove it.

• Fred had been told that Duffy would be out of town.

• The attack was brutal and “overkill,” classic signs of rage.

• A relative confirmed that Duffy was known to the family as a gambler. Gambling is illegal in Utah so many people travel to Nevada and other neighboring states to indulge.

• Duffy called his wife around 1 a.m. Utah time. This was after Fred’s second visit. Was he checking to see if she would answer? Was he just saying good night? Did he tell her not to extend credit if Fred came back?

• Fred did not steal other drugs and cash in plain sight in the master bedroom, suggesting he did not search the house as might occur if robbery were a motive.

• Duffy asked one neighbor - and then a second neighbor - to check on Hisae after just a few hours of no contact. “Please check on [victim]” is a common trick when a perpetrator wants someone else to find a body. But Duffy said his inability to get hold of Hisae was unusual.

• Before calling his neighbors that morning, Duffy called Fred. Fred said it was just to ask if he had seen Hisae. Was it actually a debriefing, perhaps leading to an argument? Did Duffy remind Fred that charges would be far more serious if prosecutors thought it was planned? Fred believed that Duffy had powerful “customers” who kept him out of trouble during prior legal scrapes and might have believed that Duffy was untouchable.

• Fred expressed anger toward Duffy, stating that he hoped Duffy ended up in jail. Fred said it was because Duffy had previously pulled a gun on him and sold drugs, but could Fred have been angry that Duffy had talked him into a horrible crime that he now regretted and could not get out of?

• Duffy told police that Fred was the only person Hisae would let into the house late at night. If Duffy had encouraged Fred to kill Hisae, why would he offer Fred up to the police? On the other hand, their connection and frequent contact were well known and would have been quickly discovered.

• The morning that Hisae was discovered, Duffy went to the house with a deputy. Duffy immediately walked to a bedside table, opened a drawer, and announced that a .38 was missing. This supported Fred’s story that Hisae had pulled a gun on him and he had taken it from her. (Fred later gave a .38 to his attorney, who turned it into police. It was not confirmed to be Wood's gun.)

• At trial, Duffy was called as a witness for the defense. He testified that Hisae had a temper, was capable of such violence, and was strong – “built like a wrestler.” Duffy weighed 165 pounds but Hisae could easily pick him up. She was “very, very strong,” he said. Duffy testified that he had taught Hisae how to handle a gun.

• Fred never suggested that Duffy solicited him to kill Hisae. He could have traded that information to prosecutors. On the other hand, admitting it was a murder for hire could have subjected Fred to much more than a 10-year sentence (theoretically even the death penalty).

• We are unaware of a motive for Duffy to have his wife killed. He had been divorced twice before. He did have property to lose or split in a divorce. Shortly after the murder, Duffy sold the burger joint and house and moved to Lake Tahoe where his friend and an ex-wife lived. We have not confirmed any interaction with his ex-wife, who died five months after Hisae.

• A member of the prosecution team feels strongly that Duffy had nothing to do with Hisae's death. Fred’s lawyer would have used any involvement by Duffy to bargain instead of trying a ridiculous self-defense claim, he tells us. If anything, they were more worried that Duffy would have Fred killed.

Duffy is now deceased, but we have located witnesses (including Fred) and will see if there is an answer to this mystery. Attached to this post: Sections of the autopsy report, a report of Fred's unhappiness with the media, images of the crime scene and hidden shoes, and an excerpt from an appellate brief written on behalf of Fred describing Fred's emotional state during the crime.

08/03/2023

UPDATE: Sadly, the remains of Bartt Felt were found May 17, 2023, at the Valley of the Gods. According to Bartt's mother, the coroner said that Bartt had a bad crack in his jaw and a piece of bone was missing. Bartt was a diabetic, and it is believed he was knocked out and passed because he needed his insulin. She thanks everyone who tried to help find him.

For those interested in Bartt's story, below is the original summary we posted on another page in 2021.

* * *

Bartt Sherbrook Felt was born in Michigan April 21, 1971. He lived in Grand Rapids and other areas in Michigan. At various times, Bartt worked as an assistant manager at a car rental company, a personal banker, and a developer/account executive. In 2008, he went back to school to study computer information systems, earning a Management Information Systems degree in 2012.

For most of his life, Bartt had a few minor infractions (speeding, parking, etc.). On September 15, 2016, however, felony charges were brought against him for stalking and domestic violence, relating to events that occurred in November 2015. Bartt was appointed counsel to represent him against the felony charges. On July 27, 2017, Bartt pled no contest. He was sentenced to time served (81 days) and 2 years probation. The conditions of his probation included wearing a "tether," an ankle monitor from JSG Monitoring in Michigan, "until further notice from the court." Other conditions included no contact with certain individuals.

In March 2018, Bartt was given permission to drive to Arizona to visit his father, Eric Lee Felt, who was ailing. (Mr. Felt died in 2020.) Bartt borrowed some money for the trip and left in a 2008 silver Honda CR-V. (We found ownership records for earlier vehicles owned by Bartt, but did not find ownership records for this car.)

On Friday, March 23, 2018, at about 9 a.m., a man walked into Monument Valley Community Health Center in southern Utah. Monument Valley is in the Four Corners Area where Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona meet. The man said he was a tourist and had found something on the Mexican Hat Bridge about 20 miles away. He handed over a small black bag with a couple of pockets. Inside were a pair of sandals, a hypodermic needle - and a su***de note signed by Bartt Felt.

Among other things, the note said that people were trying to ruin his life and had tried to poison him. It also accused a Michigan business of being involved in smuggling drugs from South America and Mexico. The note said, "I just can't handle the stress of my life any longer."

The last GPS location registered from Bartt's ankle monitor was 6 a.m. on March 23 at the Jason R. Workman Memorial Bridge in Mexican Hat (often called Mexican Hat Bridge). At 6:15:50, a car matching Bartt's Honda drove past the Swingin' Steak Restaurant on Main Street in Mexican Hat. The following day, a San Juan County Sheriff's Office deputy found Bartt's car about 9 miles away from the Bridge on San Juan County Road 242 in the "Valley of the Gods". The deputy searched as much of the area as he could before dark but found nothing.

The Sheriff's office obtained a search warrant for the car. Among the items inside were three 1-terabyte hard drives, a computer, a camera, a cell phone, a thumb drive, a USB card reader, clothes, and a wallet with some cards (but no cash or ID). Nothing provided clues as to where Bartt might be.

Extensive search efforts were undertaken. Sheriff's Office and Search and Rescue covered more than a 10 mile radius by foot, horse, and drones. Nothing. The Sheriff's Office posted a request for information. Again nothing. Experts were consulted about water depth, flow, and where a floating object would end up and when. They also tried to identify the man who brought in the small backpack, and to ping Bartt's cell phone - but it was turned off.

So, what happened to Bartt Felt? It is entirely possible that he ended his life, as he wrote in the note. (Handwriting was compared to earlier samples.) Mexican Hat is a beautiful area, and Bartt might have had a connection with the beauty of this area - his Twitter cover back as early as 2011 was of similar terrain.

Officials were not so sure. On March 26, 2018, Michigan officials issued a warrant for Bartt's arrest for violating probation. ("Removed tether," the court docket states.) Where were the large hiking backpack, sleeping bag, and tent he had taken on the trip? Why did the "tourist" drive the backpack to a medical clinic 20 miles away rather than drop it off at a motel that was open and literally right next to the Bridge? (See pic below taken by Steven Baltakatei Sandoval.)

Did Bartt Felt take his own life, perhaps remaining at the bottom of a muddy river? Did he fake his own su***de, then ditch his car and get a ride with someone? Where is he? Reward available.

07/31/2023

On March 20, 2019, Matthew Jay Broncho mysteriously disappeared in a small Utah town 133 miles south of his Idaho home. His mother, Cynthia Metz, and friends have never stopped looking for him.

Matt was born November 13, 1984, in Boise, Idaho. He attended school in Blackfoot, Idaho, and Sherman Indian High School in Riverside, California, where he was on the varsity football team. He earned a B.S. from Idaho State University in 2008 with an emphasis in environmental and federal Indian law/economics. His page reflected an active interest in those issues, and he told his mother he was considering going back to school to get a master’s degree.

Matt had recently left his job with Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. After receiving his final paycheck, on March 20, 2019, he withdrew $250 from his bank account. One media account states that receipts for various unremarkable purchases were later found that accounted for the amount withdrawn.

Matt’s mother last saw him at home in Blackfoot wearing a gray Nike pullover, blue jeans, black Under Armour running shoes, gold rimmed Ray-Ban Aviator Sunglasses, and a black Oakland Raiders cap. (Matt was a big Raiders fan.)

Sometime later that day or perhaps early March 21, Matt apparently picked up his beloved Dachsund Afa, got into his 2011 Toyota Tacoma, and drove off. It is unclear when he left Idaho. One former employee of Shoshone-Bannock High School reported seeing Matt at Lava Hot Springs in Bannock County on the evening of March 20.

After two days with no word, Matt’s mother and another relative tracked his phone with GPS. She drove to the location and found Matt’s pickup. It was parked at the Exit 7 offramp on I-84 at Snowville, Utah. The doors were locked. With her spare key, Matt’s mother got into the truck where she found his cell phone and wallet with his driver’s license, Tribal ID card, and bank cards. The relative drove Matt's truck back to Idaho while Matt’s mother questioned people at gas stations, cafes, and a local hotel. No one recalled seeing him.

The next day, Matt’s mother filed a missing person’s report with the Fort Hall (Idaho) Police Department, who said they would reach out to the Box Elder (Utah) County Sheriff’s Office. She returned to Snowville and was told that officials were searching surrounding areas not just for Matt but also for a missing Brigham City woman.

The weather in Snowville that week was fairly consistent, ranging from 30s-50s. On March 27, Matt’s dog was found alive at Exit 5, two miles west of where the pickup had been found. After putting rescuers to some effort, Afa was captured and taken to a Flying J gas station. The family were puzzled; Afa was mostly an indoor dog and the family did not believe he could have survived on his own for six days.

A search was conducted the next day by Search and Rescue, family, and friends, including people from Shoshone-Bannock Fish & Game. Searches covered an 8-mile radius around the two I-84 exits, including cadaver dogs, a civilian drone, and horses. A woman reported having seen a man generally resembling Matt walking a dog near the exit 7 ramp at 3 or 4 p.m. on March 21.

In 2020, Matt's mother testified before an Idaho legislative committee. (See image of part of her written statement below.) She expressed concern that calls to Matt’s phone before his disappearance could be vital but had not been retrieved. Security video had been erased by local businesses pursuant to normal processes and were no longer available. She had heard that some Idaho individuals had been asked to take polygraph exams and had refused. Meanwhile, family and friends have searched, held vigils, and handed out flyers, including in Salt Lake City where unhoused persons congregate.

“My family in the last year have gone through unimaginable emotional pain of not knowing what happened to Matt,” Cynthia Metz testified. “We pray everyday that he will walk through the door.”

07/30/2023

In May 1992, Lakhbir Banwait disappeared. Was he “stabbed” and “thrown in the garbage”? Did he “leave to get away from things” and go into hiding? Both theories were presented to Salt Lake City detectives. First, some background…

Lakhbir Banwait (also known as Lakhbir Singh per naming conventions) was born in India on April 2, 1954. At 38, he was 14 years older than his wife, also a native of India. (Many people are mentioned in this summary, so to help keep them straight we are borrowing a common court practice and describing them by their role.)

Lakhbir had married Wife six years earlier, possibly in New Zealand. They later moved from New Zealand to California, where Lakhbir co-owned the Prince India restaurant in Dublin, California, with his brother. Brother lived in London. Around October of 1991, the Prince India was sold, yielding $12,000 in cash. Brother told Lakhbir to keep it so that he would have something to live on.

About March 1992, a former employee of the Prince India moved to Utah and went to work at the Royal Taj restaurant at 165 South West Temple in Salt Lake City. He called Lakhbir and told him that the Royal Taj was for sale. Lakhbir, Wife, and their three children came to Salt Lake City. Lakhbir made a $9,000 down payment, with the remainder due May 1, 1992.

In mid-April, Lakhbir called a cousin in New York and said he had changed his mind about buying the Royal Taj. Cousin said to give him a few weeks and he would come buy Lakhbir out. In an April 29 phone call, Brother asked if Lakhbir needed any money. Lakhbir said no, he wasn't going to buy the restaurant after all. He expected to get his deposit back (apparently from Cousin) on May 3.

According to Brother, Lakhbir said once the deposit was returned, he planned to go to India briefly, then back to Australia [it's unclear to us when / whether Lakhbir had lived in Australia].

Meanwhile, Lakhbir’s personal life posed challenges. There had been some recent deaths in his family in India and, as Wife later acknowledged, he had been asking for a divorce for three years. Lakhbir, Wife, their three children, the former Prince India Employee, and a Royal Taj coworker were all living in a one-bedroom apartment at 137 E. 3rd Ave., Apt. 20. They did not have a car and would walk to work.

According to the apartment manager, the Royal Taj coworker told him that Wife was "sleeping with the other roommate," who allegedly “seemed to drink a lot”.

MAY 1, 1992, was a Friday. Early that morning, the Royal Taj co-worker had left for California, having been let go from the restaurant (not clear when/by whom; he was not interviewed). The following series of events was reported by the former Prince India employee (roommate), the only witness:

• He woke up about 8:00 a.m. and walked to work with Lakhbir about 9:30-9:45. Lakhbir was wearing a white shirt, black pants, black shoes, and a sky blue turban over his bald head. (Lakhbir was thin; he was 5’5” and weighed about 110 pounds.)

• He went to work in the kitchen while Lakhbir worked up front.

• After ~15 minutes, Lakhbir came back to the kitchen and said, “I’m going to the post office. Be back in about 20 minutes.”

• Other Royal Taj employees arrived about 10 minutes after Lakhbir left.

• Wife arrived at the Royal Taj about noon.

No one else reported seeing Lakhbir Banwait on May 1. None of the tenants in Lakhbir’s apartment building reported hearing or seeing anything unusual. Friday was garbage pickup day.

On May 2, 1992, Lakhbir’s wife called Salt Lake City police. She reported that her husband had left for the post office the day before and never returned, which was very unusual. (Brother agreed that it was “totally out of character” for Lakhbir to disappear, and believed that Lakhbir would have contacted him.)

Wife estimated that Lakhbir would have had $300-400 in cash on him (later estimated at $400-500). No clothing or anything else was missing from the apartment. Over the next few days, police checked Lakhbir’s bank account and saw no activity. Neither Lakhbir’s Social Security number nor passport were used.

On May 8, a brother-in-law of Lakhbir’s came to Salt Lake City from San Bruno, California. He reported a rumor (supposedly from unidentified restaurant workers) that Lakhbir’s wife was having an affair with one of the workers living with them. He reported that the couple were always “fighting.”

A Royal Taj employee told police that, after Lakhbir’s disappearance, the former Prince India employee had scratches on his shoulder and arm. Wife said he had been “scratched by a cat coming through the window”. Another witness said the injuries looked like a burn of some sort. The detective arranged for him to come to the Public Safety Building for an interview on May 7 or 8. He did not show up, and investigators were told that he had left town. He told another co-worker that he was “afraid” and was looking for Lakhbir. This rendered the detective unable to see his reported injuries.

Wife agreed to take a polygraph, which was scheduled by SLCPD for the week of May 20, 1992. On May 21, Wife reported to Social Services that she and her three children had been evicted. (The apartment manager denied evicting them and said he did not know she was leaving.) Concerned about the children, Social Services bought Wife and the children plane tickets to California, where they would be staying with Wife’s sister in Santa Ana, California. Wife left a forwarding address with the detective.

After Wife arrived in California, Lakhbir’s brother flew there from London to ask if she knew where Lakhbir was. SLCPD would not pay to bring Wife back for a polygraph, so Brother hired a private investigator in California who administered a polygraph (twice). Wife was asked if she knew Lakhbir’s whereabouts, if she knew or had involvement in harming Lakhbir or knew who did, and whether she was having an affair with the former Prince India employee. The private investigator reported to SLCPD that she passed.

Brother informed SLCPD that (apparently during their visit) Lakhbir’s 5-year-old daughter said, “Mommy and Daddy had a fight. Mommy stabbed Daddy with a knife. Mommy and [the former Prince India employee] threw Daddy in the garbage.” This same child reportedly also stated that her father was in California, that she had talked with him on the phone, and that she did not know where he was. To detectives, she denied having talked with her father on the phone. Brother remained suspicious, asserting that Wife had $30,000 “back in Australia.”

On May 29, 1992, police searched the apartment, which had been vacant since Wife and the children flew to California 8 days earlier. “We checked the apartment for possible evidence of foul play and found none,” the detective reported. “We checked the cement landing and stairway (apartment was on the second floor) for any evidence, possible blood spatters, none was found.”

In June 1992, the former Prince India employee was interviewed. He denied ever seeing Lakhbir and Wife “fight,” as had been reported by Brother and the other roommate. He denied an affair with Wife, who was “like a sister” to him. He agreed to a polygraph and was asked three questions by an SLCPD polygrapher:

Did you kill Lakhbir? No.
Do you know for sure where Lakhbir went that morning, other than the post office? No.
Do you know for sure where Lakhbir is right now? No.

According to the polygrapher, he passed. SLCPD closed the case on June 11, 1992, stating, “At this time there is no physical evidence to suggest M/P [Missing Person] has met with foul play. This case is closed at this time pending further leads.” In September 1992, though, detectives went to the Royal Taj and spoke with Lakhbir’s cousin, who had arrived after Lakhbir disappeared. He had made the remaining payment and taken over the restaurant.

Cousin said that Lakhbir wanted to go back to India alone, without his wife and children. He said Lakhbir was upset about the recent deaths in his family. Cousin felt that Lakhbir was just in hiding and “just left to get away from things.”

Postscript: Wife left Utah and returned to New Zealand. In May 1994, she filed for divorce in Otahuhu, posting a notice in a Salt Lake City newspaper that said, “Any person knowing the whereabouts of the above mentioned Lakhbir Singh is asked to bring this notice to his attention.”

07/30/2023

On a warm Saturday night, September 15, 1979, 16-year-old Rachelle Arenaz wanted to go with a friend to a dance party at the Terrace Ballroom featuring Los Blue Angels. Rachelle's mother said no, which led to an argument.

Rachelle decided to sneak out to meet her 15-year-old friend Bridgette anyway. She climbed out the window of the bedroom she shared with two sisters and stepped over the white picket fence at the side of their house. She then realized that her younger sister, clad in pajamas, had followed her and was about to climb over the fence after her. "Go back to bed," Rachelle told her, or she would s***k her butt. "I'll be back."

Rachelle and Bridgette did not go to the dance. They met two men, Francisco Gabriel V. and Ruben T., who took them to a party in Ogden instead. They returned to Salt Lake City and the girls spent the next two weeks with the men in Ruben's apartment, Jackson Apartments #41 on 278 West 200 South. Rachelle paired off with Francisco, and Bridgette with Ruben.

Francisco was 21, tall and thin, with black hair in an "Afro" style. Ruben was estimated at 33. They were both from Mexico. Francisco worked at the Flying J motel on North Temple, where he listed an address of 422 South 200 West #529. Ruben worked at Safelite on Industrial Road.

On September 17, 1979, Rachelle's and Bridgette's parents reported them both as runaways. The manager of the Jackson Apartments later remembered seeing the two girls with her tenant and his roommate during this time. Around the end of September 1979, Bridgette returned home. According to Bridgette, both girls had packed their belongings but Rachelle was reluctant to go home for fear of being punished. Bridgette told her mother (and later police) that Rachelle said she was going to the Jackson School and would meet Bridgette there later.

The Jackson School was a local junior high (and elementary) school at 750 West 200 North, near Rachelle's home at 872 West 200 North. Among other things, the school hosted a boys' and girls' club, SOCIO classes that offered English lessons, and community classes.

Bridgette later went back to the Jackson Apartments and stayed with Ruben for a few months. She saw Francisco there, but not Rachelle. Bridgette's sister visited occasionally and also reported never seeing Rachelle.

Months went by. Rachelle's mother eventually told police that she suspected Rachelle was staying away voluntarily and they didn't need to keep the "Want" active. In early 1980, Francisco reportedly went to Idaho and then possibly to Chicago. (He later returned.)

In an odd twist, police did not have a photograph or fingerprints for Francisco even though he had been arrested in early 1979 (for jaywalking, which might have been a pretext). When Francisco was booked, the jail noticed an earlier inmate named "Frank" V. and figured it was the same man. (It wasn't.) Thinking they already had his booking photo and prints, the jail did not take any.

On May 8, 1980, two 11-year-old boys were riding horses in a field near the Salt Lake City airport about 4000 W 2100 N. (The airport was smaller at this time and surrounded by acres of field and grass.) In a ditch about 20 yards north of 2100 North, they saw the remains of a n**e body covered by branches and twigs. She had a gold earring in her right ear (no record of whether her ears were pierced such that the left one might be missing). Nearby were a white sweater, a pair of pantyhose, two pair of underpants, a pair of white shorts, and a .222 caliber cartridge.

The body was so decomposed that a cause of death could not be determined. Rachelle's identity was confirmed through dental records. "Our world ended that day," her sister remembers. Rachelle's mother wanted to see her daughter's body, but police talked her out of it.

Based on police reports, interviews with family and others, we believe it is likely that Rachelle died before or shortly after Bridgette returned home the first time. Police issued an alert on Francisco and Ruben, but did not get any response and the search waned. Francisco later returned to Utah where he has been arrested dozens of times, primarily for drug offenses. Two other rumors reported to the police included:

A woman nicknamed "Indian Mary" (real name Miranda Mary H./W.) had killed Rachelle in the basement of the Jackson Apartments. Mary said she was in Logan, Utah, in September-October 1979. She said her adopted father, a local businessman, could confirm this, and offered to take a polygraph. There is no record that her alibi was checked.

In July 1981, an anonymous caller reported that Mike P. killed Rachelle. Police located him in a local jail. He said he was living/working in Wyoming at the time of Rachelle's death, and that he would take a polygraph. There is no record that his alibi was checked. (We have had a hard time tracking this individual and do not yet know where he ended up.)

This case was originally reported by the Medical Examiner as a homicide. In September 1981, however, it was "closed and classified as an unattended death." Inspired by the family tragedy, Rachelle's brother later became a homicide detective.

Did something happen to Rachelle after (or before) Bridgette left the apartment? From all accounts, Rachelle did not use illegal drugs but could she have been persuaded to try something, leading to an accidental overdose? Did she make it to the Jackson School and run into someone there? Did she fall prey to someone targeting teenage girls? Three years earlier, a 17-year-old "runaway" (who had actually been r***d and murdered) was found in the same area.