Utah
Body discovery shocks quiet southern Utah rental home community
WASHINGTON CITY, Utah — There’s nothing too unusual about the fact there are so many short-term rentals in this Washington City neighborhood, but what occurred over the weekend has been a shock to the community.
On Monday, those seen in the Sendera at Sierra Hills neighborhood were walking to the popular pool with its lazy river and big slide, as well as those cleaning the many vacation rentals.
Crime
‘Persons of interest’ ID’d after woman found dead in vacation home
Maggie Adler has been part of cleaning crews in the neighborhood that service bigger family homes. She estimates that only 20 percent have full-time residents, while the other homes are rented out.
On Sunday morning, a cleaning crew came upon a gruesome discovery, finding the body of a 47-year-old woman who had allegedly been stabbed multiple times.
“I was not involved in the cleaning of that house,” Adler said. “We have another unit just right behind it. So we got to see all the action. As a cleaner, that’s your biggest fear, walking into a home and finding a dead body.
“Nobody wants to do that.”
Multiple Hazmat cleaning crews were seen arriving at the home on Monday. Washington City police said the victim was from California and had been staying at the rental since Thursday. They say the victim was stabbed late Saturday and her body was discovered about six hours later.
“You would think that a vacation rental area had a lot of cameras. Unfortunately, this one does not. But we have canvassed the ones that we do have,” explained Washington City police Lt. Kory Klotz.
With some of the video that was obtained, police were able to see two people of interest leaving in the victim’s car. That vehicle was found in another state and police are coordinating with law enforcement in that area to find the suspects.
“We do not believe that there’s anybody currently here that was involved in this incident,” Klotz added. “We do believe [the persons of interest] were acquaintances of the victim at minimum.”
Police said one thing that has been different about the investigation is the tourists, who Klotz shared have been very forthcoming and have played a larger role than usual when helping to piece together what happened.
“It just kind of left an eerie feeling through the neighborhood all day yesterday, even today, you know, it’s just so tragic,” Adler shared. “So, so tragic.”
Utah
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.
Utah
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.
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.
Utah
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.”
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.
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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