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5 Family Members Found Dead Inside Utah Home, 17-Year-Old Boy Hospitalized: ‘Absolutely Horrific’

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5 Family Members Found Dead Inside Utah Home, 17-Year-Old Boy Hospitalized: ‘Absolutely Horrific’


Police in Utah are investigating the deaths of five people from the same family who were found dead inside their home.

The West Valley City Police Department shared on X (formerly known as Twitter) that officers were investigating a homicide after they found “five people deceased” and one teenager injured inside a home on the 3700 block of Oxford Way — which is located about 9 miles from Salt Lake City.

The five people who were found deceased included two adults, a 42-year-old male, a 38-year-old female, an 11-year-old boy, a 9-year-old girl and a 2-year-old girl. Police noted that their “initial information” indicated that they were all related and lived together. 

Police investigate the deaths of five people inside a Utah home.
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Scott G. Winterton/The Deseret News via AP


Authorities said their investigation began when they were contacted by a family member on Monday, Dec. 16 who had voiced their “concerns” to police after “they had not heard from the woman who lives in the home” after visiting a few days prior. 

Officers then visited the property and attempted to “make contact” with the family. However, when they arrived and knocked at the door, “no one answered,” so officers looked inside the windows of the home and “spoke to neighbors.” 

“They did not find any indications of an emergency or crime so they asked the family member to keep in contact,” police said in their statement. 

When one of the deceased did not show up for work on Tuesday, Dec. 17, the concerned family member decided to enter the garage of the home to check if everyone was okay. While there, she found a 17-year-old family male member suffering from “an apparent gunshot wound” and called the police.

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Police investigate the home in West Valley City, Utah.

Scott G. Winterton/The Deseret News via AP


Officers responded to the scene just after 2 p.m., and the 17-year-old was transported to the hospital. West Valley City police spokesperson Roxeanne Vainuku described his injuries as “significant” in a press conference, per KTVX and NBC News.

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“He’s in a condition where we’ve not really been able to communicate with him,” Vainuku said, per NBC News. His exact condition was unknown, per the outlet.

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Police investigate the crime scene in Utah.

Scott G. Winterton/The Deseret News via AP


After searching the house, authorities found the five other bodies. However, police did not say how they may have died.

Vainuku described the scene as “absolutely horrific,” and added that it “is something that certainly will weigh heavily on investigators in this case.”

Police said in a statement that they “obtained a search warrant for the home” and investigators had started their investigation inside the home.

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“Officers also have canvassed the neighborhood gathering information and any video evidence,” they added.

“At this time, we believe this incident is isolated to this home,” police continued.



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Utah

Here’s who will lead Utah Valley University as its next president

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Here’s who will lead Utah Valley University as its next president


Jon Anderson will be charged with moving the Orem school forward following the death of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk on campus last year.

(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Incoming UVU President Jon Anderson poses for a photo with his family after an event announcing his selection at Utah Valley University in Orem on Friday, July 17, 2026.



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Beaver County residents set up thousands of sandbags ahead of flashfloods

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Beaver County residents set up thousands of sandbags ahead of flashfloods


BEAVER COUNTY, Utah — A massive community effort is underway as volunteers and Beaver County crews distribute thousands of sandbags to protect homes from the potential path of floodwaters.

After the Cottonwood Fires, residents have been waiting for weeks for relief to come in the form of rain, though officials now warn it may come all at once with an increased risk of flooding and debris flow.

Emergency Service Director Les Whitney believes that the fire has left plenty of debris to bring trouble for residents.

“We got a lot of water. We’re bringing debris with it, so tree branches, tree limbs, logs, lots of different size firewood, and that’s all in the creeks. We’re worried about that plugging up our bridges and stuff, so we have heavy equipment and excavators located in strategic places so that we can keep those bridges open,” said Whitney.

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An estimated 140 homes and condominiums were spared from the flames, but remain in the paths of floodwaters.

Residents can also pick up sandbags at the Beaver County Sheriff’s Office or at the Beaver County Rodeo Fairgrounds.





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Utah man arrested again for allegedly abusing dog twice in three months

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Utah man arrested again for allegedly abusing dog twice in three months


EAGLE MOUNTAIN — An Eagle Mountain man currently on pretrial release in 4th District Court who is accused of abusing his dog has been arrested again for allegedly punching the same animal.

Keith Reaves Davis, 43, was booked into the Utah County Jail on Wednesday for investigation of aggravated cruelty to an animal.

Utah County sheriff’s deputies were called Wednesday afternoon to a grocery store on a report that a man was beating his dog after it had gotten off its leash and was stopped by a bystander, according to a police booking affidavit.

“I reviewed security camera footage from the grocery store, and an individual matching the description of the suspect was seen holding the dog in the air by one paw and repeatedly striking the dog on the right hind leg area. I observed the male strike the dog several times before dropping the dog from approximately 1-2 feet. The strikes appeared to be as hard as the male could hit,” the arresting deputy wrote in the affidavit. “The dog did not cry out or whimper as if the dog was accustomed to the abuse.”

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When questioned, Davis “admitted to striking the dog because it was not behaving,” the affidavit states.

An animal control officer who responded to the scene to take custody of the dog noted it was the same dog he had taken from Davis exactly three months earlier during another animal abuse investigation.

In that case, Davis was charged in 4th District Court with aggravated cruelty to an animal, a class A misdemeanor; and public intoxication, a class C misdemeanor, after deputies received a tip from a neighbor that a dog was being abused at Davis’ home, according to charging documents. When questioned, Davis “acknowledged hitting his dog as punishment,” the charges state.

Deputies also reviewed videos that the neighbor had filmed. The neighbor told investigators “there was blood from the dog on the ground of the garage and (the neighbor) can hear the dog screaming as if it’s being hurt. Deputies got the videos from the (neighbor) and you can hear very loudly the dog screaming and crying with a lot of loud banging noises. In one of the videos, you can hear the dog sounding like it is being choked by a collar and is grasping for air,” a police booking affidavit states.

Davis’ next court hearing in the April case is scheduled for July 28.

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In their latest booking report, sheriff’s deputies note that they “believe further harm will be inflicted on this dog if it is released back to the male a second time,” and have recommended the dog not be returned to Davis.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.



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