Utah
Utah authorities seek those responsible for damaging panel of ancient outdoor engravings
Authorities this week said they want to find anyone involved in the installation of climbing bolts at the site of an ancient outdoor engraving in northeastern Utah.
Climbing bolts, also known as anchors, were discovered at the site of the Pregnant Sheep Petroglyph Panel on federal land in the northeastern corner of the state on Nov. 10, the Uintah County Sheriff’s Office said.
On Thursday, the sheriff’s office and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management asked for the public’s help in tracking down anyone involved in the installation of bolts near Highway 40’s Musket Shot Springs Overlook, which is about 11 miles from Dinosaur National Monument in neighboring Colorado.
In a statement on Facebook, the bureau characterized the act as vandalism.
The sheriff’s office characterized the installation as having taken place on the petroglyph panel. Sheriff’s officials did not immediately respond to a request for more information.
Information on the specific panel was not immediately available.
Elements associated with similar engravings in Wayne County, Utah, in the southern third of the state, have been radiocarbon dated by Colorado State University geomorphologist Joel Pederson to 1100 A.D., according to the Natural History Museum of Utah.
Collaborator Steven Simms, a Utah State University anthropologist, is quoted by the museum as stating some of the state’s petroglyphs represent “persistence, reformulation, and integration of art, iconography, and ideology among peoples.”
Autumn Gillard, the cultural resource manager for the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, told NBC affiliate KSL of Salt Lake City that installing bolts at the site of a petroglyph is “disrespectful” to the state’s indigenous people because the engravings are sacred to many.
“For us, as tribal people, these are our churches,” she told the station earlier this month. “When folks go in and they vandalize panels, or they vandalize cultural sites, we correlate it to the same thing as if somebody was to go into a temple or a religious space and were to write graffiti all over it or to write their name all over it.”
The search for the bolts’ installer is taking place as climbing advocacy group Access Fund celebrated a December victory for legislation called Protecting America’s Rock Climbing, passed by Congress as part of the Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences Act.
The bill, in part, “clarifies that climbing and the placement, use, and maintenance of fixed anchors (including bolts, pins, and slings) are appropriate, and not prohibited, within wilderness areas,” the nonprofit group said in a statement on Dec. 19.
The Access Fund said the National Park Service this month backed off a proposal that would have prohibited fixed anchors on federal land.
On Dec. 2, Utah’s Kane County Sheriff’s Office said two people wanted for questioning in the alleged defacing of a petroglyph near Wire Pass, known for its photogenic rock formations, were located and contacted.
Bureau of Land Management district manager Harry Barber told KSL a woman was arrested and could face multiple felony counts connected to the incident. Barber said in a video update posted to Facebook that the woman allegedly wrote her name “and/or other things” on the petroglyph.
It wasn’t clear if the woman has a lawyer, and the status of the case was not available. The federal public defender’s office for Utah did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday night.
In Uintah County, roughly 500 miles northeast of Wire Pass, sheriff’s officials indicated any leads that develop in their search for the bolt installer would be forwarded to federal agents.
“BLM law enforcement is asking the public to report any information they may have identifying the person(s) responsible for this incident,” the sheriff’s office there said in its Thursday statement.
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.
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.
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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