2 Teenagers Arrested After Body of Abducted 21-Year-Old Man Is Found in Remote Utah Desert
21-year-old Alex Franco was found dead of a gunshot wound two days after he was allegedly abducted
A 21-year-old boy was found dead in a remote desert area in Utah days after an alleged abduction.
On Sunday, Taylorsville police shared in a news release that they were investigating a “possible abduction” of a young man, later identified as Alexzia “Alex” Franco. Around 4:15 p.m. local time, he was seen getting into a white 2000s Jeep Liberty and witnesses “heard a possible gunshot.” The vehicle then sped away.
Authorities asked the public to be on the lookout for the Jeep that Franco was seen entering in the release, as they stated they were trying to locate both the vehicle and the driver.
Three days later, the Taylorsville Police Department shared an update on the investigation as they announced that the alleged abduction is now considered a homicide, as Franco’s body was found early Tuesday morning “in a remote desert area in Utah County.”
The 21-year-old was found with “what appears to be a single gunshot wound,” per police, and two teenage boys, ages 15 and 17, were arrested in connection with Franco’s death.
Police had located the Jeep in Salt Lake County and “further investigation led to the arrest of the two teenage suspects.”
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Franco’s grandmother, Shellie Kilpatrick, told local outlet Scripps News Salt Lake City, “We are going to get to the bottom of all of this.”
“We’re going to make sure whoever did this to you will pay for the rest of their lives. This has affected a lot of people," she continued.
His aunt, Sherry Bennett, told the outlet: “What did he do so wrong that gives somebody the right to think they could take his life and take him away from his family?”
During a vigil held in his honor on Tuesday evening, Franco’s girlfriend of four years, Brooklyn Lund, said she “felt like I couldn’t breathe” in the wake of the news.
“I didn’t feel like it was happening,” she told ABC4 News. “It felt like it was all a dream and I just wanted to pinch myself awake.”
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