Body of missing 5-year-old Lizzy Shelley found after negotiations with her uncle, who has been charged with aggravated murder By Erin Alberty, Taylor Stevens
Published: 14 hours ago, Updated: 3 hours ago
Whipple disclosed the location of Lizzy’s body, buried under leaves and debris in a wooded area about a quarter mile from her home, said Shannon Demler, Whipple’s attorney. Demler said he took police to the site, and the girl’s body was recovered about 1 p.m.; police gave a slightly later timeframe.
Jensen noted that Whipple had offered the information in exchange for prosecutors taking the death penalty “off the table." Investigators have not established a motive for the crime.
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Charging documents allege that Lizzy’s blood was found on Whipple’s wristwatch and a hooded sweatshirt that he was wearing when he was arrested on Saturday. On the grounds of a nearby charter school, investigators found a broken knife that had Lizzy’s blood on it and matched the brand of a knife that was missing from her family’s kitchen, according to charges.
Officers also found a piece of PVC pipe that carried a partial palm print in a red substance; the palm print matched Whipple’s hand, according to charges. A block from the school, a homeowner found a beer can that had Whipple’s DNA on it, police wrote.
About 50 yards from the parking lot, investigators also found a teal blue skirt — clothing that Lizzy was last seen wearing — “hastily buried” under some dirt and bark. The skirt also had blood on it, according to charges.
Police found Lizzy’s body near 455 W. Center St., “in the general area that we’d found several of the evidence items,” Jensen said Wednesday. "We felt we’d searched that area hard. I’d love to share a picture of the area that her body was found, just because it’s amazing the overgrowth and the difficulty of the scene.”
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Charging documents say that Lizzy’s mother, her mother’s live-in boyfriend and Whipple had stayed up late Friday night drinking beer and rum and playing video games. The couple went to bed and Whipple stayed the night on the couch.
The girl’s mother told police she last saw her daughter in her bed around midnight, and said the girl was wearing a teal skirt with white lace and a Fourth of July-themed shirt.
When the couple woke up at around 9:30 a.m. the next morning, Lizzy and Whipple were gone — and the front door was wide open. They called police.
The mother told investigators that she didn’t know where Whipple would have taken Lizzy, according to charges, and said he didn’t have a vehicle and often walked or rode a skateboard. His skateboard and cellphone had been left at the home.
...more at linkhttps://www.sltrib.com/news/2019/05/29/ ... l-collect/
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