Missing Utah Teens' Bodies Possibly Found in Abandoned Mine as Authorities Suspect Foul Play
The bodies of two Utah teenagers missing since December have possibly been found in an abandoned mine outside the town where they were living, PEOPLE confirms.
Foul play is suspected but a cause of death remains unclear pending further investigation.
Officials with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office, Juab County Sheriff’s Office and Unified Fire Authority made the discovery on Wednesday afternoon in the abandoned Tintic Standard Mine near Eureka, about 75 miles south of Salt Lake City.
Riley Powell, 18, and 17-year-old Brelynne “Breezy” Otteson were reported missing on Jan. 2 after they didn’t return to the Eureka home they lived in. They were dating, according to the Gephardt Daily.
“It appears, preliminarily, that [the bodies] may be Riley Powell and Breezy Otteson,” Utah County Sheriff Office Undersheriff Darin Durfey told reporters on Wednesday, according to local news station KUTV. “However, positive identification needs to be made by the medical examiner’s office before we can confirm that.”
“For us, we’re bringing the kids home,” said Otteson’s aunt, Amanda Hunt, the Deseret News reports. “That’s where we’re at right now. We’re finally getting that closure.”
“It’s gone from searching for Breezy and Riley to justice for Breezy and Riley,” Hunt siad. “If this is them, that’s where we’re at.”
The sheriff’s office says that there is a person of interest in the case but have declined to name them.
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A coroner will conduct autopsies on the remains to try to determine a cause and manner of death. Police believe that the case will be classified as a homicide.
“Obviously at this point, it appears foul play is involved,” Durfey said at the news conference.
Juab County Sheriff Douglas Anderson said that details in the investigation had led them to the mineshaft where the remains were found. He declined to specify what type of information had led them to the mine, however, and authorities did not take questions.
Powell’s mother and his mother’s boyfriend had previously been identified in court documents in connection with the investigation but were not mentioned on Wednesday.
PEOPLE’s efforts to reach them for comment were unsuccessful.
The Case So Far
The dark blue 1999 Jeep Cherokee Powell and Otteson had been driving was found hidden and obscured by trees on Jan. 11, near Cherry Creek Reservoir, about 14 miles southwest of Eureka, according to authorities.
Investigators discovered that two of the Jeep’s tires on the passenger side had been punctured. Police also found a camouflage tie-down strap stuck in the driver’s side of the vehicle, according to a search warrant affidavit previously obtained by PEOPLE.
Around the time of of the teens’ disappearance, investigators say a witness saw a Chevy pickup truck used by the boyfriend of Powell’s mother pulling a Jeep described as “the one Riley is always driving.”
“It is suspected that the blue Chevy truck,” the affidavit states, “was used to transport, conceal, hide, and plant the victims vehicle in Cherry Creek at the location it was discovered, to give the illusion that the victims were indeed stranded.”
On Jan. 16, police searched the home Powell’s mother shared with her boyfriend. There, investigators found a tie-down strap “that was identical in camouflage pattern to the one stuck in the jeep leaf spring in the bed of the truck matching the description of the truck that was described by the witness as pulling Riley’s Jeep,” the affidavit states.
According to the search warrant, Powell’s mother was among those interviewed about the case. However, her boyfriend refused to cooperate.
The affidavit also states that three people who were interviewed gave differing stories about where Powell’s mother and her boyfriend were on New Year’s Eve.
Powell’s mother told investigators she was at home but two others said she was not, according to the affidavit.
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