(Juab County, UT) — Investigators say they have made several arrests in connection with two bodies found in an abandoned mine near Eureka yesterday. Authorities believe the bodies are 18-year-old Riley Powell and 17-year-old Brelynne Otteson, who went missing three months ago.
One of those arrests includes 41-year-old Jerrod Baum.
A police affidavit outlines extremely disturbing details about the deaths of the young couple, including a statement allegedly made by Baum that he made Powell suffer.
The last message Powell sent on Facebook was to Baum’s girlfriend, Morgan Henderson, saying the two agreed to meet at her house in an hour, according to the report.
Henderson eventually admitted that Powell and Otteson had showed up that night and stayed for about 40 minutes to smoke marijuana, the report states. But she denied knowing where they were after they left.
She also said she was scared because she was not allowed to have male friends over when Baum and his father weren’t home.
On Sunday, the girlfriend was interviewed at the Sanpete County Sheriff’s Office and this time told investigators that Baum had found out that Powell and Otteson had stopped by that night.
She told investigators that Baum had told her that he “took care of Riley and Brelynne.”
She then took investigators to the area of the mine where she believed the couple was killed.
After the bodies were found on Tuesday, Henderson gave detectives more information.
She said after Powell and Otteson left her house on the Dec. 30, Baum came in a short time later and led her outside.
“They went outside and she saw Riley and Brelynne tied up in the back of Riley’s Jeep. Morgan also stated that Jerrod told her to get in the Jeep and that they would go for a ride to have a talk. They then drove to the area of the Eureka Lilly mine. While at the mine Jerrod used a knife to kill both Riley and Brelynne and then dumped their bodies in the mine,” police wrote in the affidavit.
Henderson has not been arrested in connection with the deaths. She was, however, booked into the Sanpete County Jail on the day she was interviewed for investigation of drugs and weapons charges.
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This is a developing story and will be updated.
