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.

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.”

Shaylee Allred’s childhood love for reading reignited in 2023, but it was one particular cowboy romance series she read at the end of that year that prompted her to get more involved with the bookish community.

“I read a series called ‘Chestnut Springs’ by Elsie Silver. It’s one of my favorites,” she said of the five-book saga. Allred loved the series so much that she went to a book convention in South Carolina in 2024 just to see Silver.

“Once I saw that event and witnessed it, I was like, ‘We need one of these in Utah,’” the Orangeville resident said. Around the same time, Lovebound Library, Utah’s first romance-only bookstore, opened in Salt Lake City.

That series of events inspired Allred to organize Romance Out West, a romance book convention, set to take place at Sandy’s Mountain American Expo Center on Saturday.

“There’s a lot of readers in Utah,” Allred said, “and there’s not a lot of book conventions on this side of the country.”

The convention’s name is only a reference to it being in the West. Authors from all over — published both independently and traditionally — will be present at the convention, representing all subgenres from contemporary to paranormal and everything between.

Book conventions, Allred said, are a great place to find new authors and bookish friends. “It’s a great place to learn more about yourself and the books you read.”

Allred said there will be upward of 75 different authors who will sell and sign books, as well as around a dozen vendors who create or sell bookish goods, including Lovebound Library and local candlemaker The Nerf Herder Co. There will be several Utah-based authors who will be at the convention, including Tiana Smith, Sariah Wilson and Amilea Perez.

Perez, a University of Utah student, writes Indigenous fantasy and is currently working on an Aztec fantasy series, “The Mexica Chronicles,” based on two siblings who have to compete in a tournament.

The first book in the series, “Tournament of the Heirs” was released last October, and Romance Out West will be her first author event. Perez said she is excited to meet fellow authors and new readers, especially because such events are rare in Utah.

Perez independently published her book because she wanted to share the story with the world as soon as possible. Conventions like Romance Out West, she said, can help indie authors like her get the word out about their work to a wider audience.

“Conventions like this are really great for meeting new readers and also for catching readers who might not have read your book otherwise. In meeting you, it’s more personal,” she said, adding that such connections can help readers better understand the stories.

That sentiment fits in with Allred’s overall goal with Romance Out West — to foster connectivity.

“I just want Romance Out West to be a safe and comfortable space for readers — romance readers — to just join and share their common interests,” she said.

Tickets to the convention are available for purchase and cost $60.

The Utah Jazz took on the Cleveland Cavaliers and had a chance to take on Donovan Mitchell once again post-trade. It’s now been long enough since the trade that this is probably not a story anymore. The major reason this isn’t a story anymore is that the Jazz have finally moved on by focusing on the best route for the team, getting a star in the draft.

Yes, the Jazz got beat badly in this one but they’re on the route that leads to a superstar in the draft. The Cavaliers are on a different end of the NBA spectrum. They have two top-5 picks in Darius Garland and Evan Mobley. With those two picks, they then made the big trade for Donovan Mitchell. Utah is at the beginning stages of a similar rebuild, they just don’t have the elite talent yet.

In this one, you could see the difference between the two teams. Utah has some nice young prospects who could be a good fit next to a superstar, but they’re not likely the stars leading the Jazz to a championship. Kyle Filipowski was probably the most impressive player for the Jazz. In this one, he was 7/13 from the field and 4/8 from three. He scored 18 points with 13 rebounds. What’s interesting about Filipowski is how well he is playing at the 4-spot at times next to Walker Kessler. Yes, Utah struggled in the second half in this one but showed some impressive defense in the first half. Yeah, it’s just a half, but considering how terrible Utah’s defense has been this year, it’s great to see. If Filipowski can play good defense at the 4-spot and then also play at this level on offense, they have themselves a real piece for the future.

Walker Kessler continues to take threes to develop that aspect of his game. In the games the Jazz have done this, it hasn’t really worked. Tonight, Kessler was 1/8 from three. In his last five games, Kessler has shot 3/26, which is not super encouraging. It doesn’t mean he can’t. There are some players who have become a stretch center after being mostly inside players, but it might not be a part of Kessler’s future. Time will tell. If he can become a good stretch-5, it can turn Kessler into a very dynamic player. The other reason it’s not something to bet much on is that Kessler shoots just 54% from the free-throw line.

There wasn’t much else from this to take, other than that Brice Sensabaugh continues to have some really nice shooting nights. Sensabaugh shot 4/7 from the field and ²⁄₃ from three. For the season, Sensabaugh is shooting 40% from three. His shooting is really impactful at times but if he can contribute in other areas of the floor, such as defense, he can become a real rotation player.