SALT LAKE CITY — A body believed to be a missing 5-year-old Utah girl was found Wednesday less than a block from her home, bringing a wide-ranging search to a grim close five days after the child was taken from her home and killed by her uncle, police said.
The body believed to be Elizabeth “Lizzy” Shelley was found hidden under trees and brush after 21-year-old Alex Whipple told his lawyer where he had hidden her, Logan Police Chief Gary Jensen said.
The discovery came hours after Whipple was charged with murder and other counts. He provided the map in exchange for prosecutors taking the death penalty off the table, Jensen said.
Jensen said the discovery was disappointing but “nevertheless is closure and helps us be able to now deal with the investigation and help the family through their grief.”
In a statement read by a victim’s advocate, the girl’s mother Jessica Whipple said: “There are not words to express the sadness and heartbreak we feel today. This did not end the way we wanted to do but in the sadness we are comforted by the effort people put in to find Lizzy. We would never have expected this outpouring of love and support. It was beautiful.”
The body was found after officers spent days combing the city set in a picturesque valley near the Idaho border about 80 miles north of Salt Lake City.
Crews previously searched the area where the body was buried but didn’t find her, Jensen said.