ELIZABETH SHELLEY, 5 YRS OLD - MISSING & PRESUMED DEAD, UTAH

[HairOfTheDog]

Elizabeth was reported missing by her family on Saturday morning.  

LE has since been conducting exhaustive searches of the area near her home.

[HairOfTheDog]

The Suspect

From the start, police suspected that the little girl's uncle, an ex-convict who was visiting the family, abducted Elizabeth. 


The uncle, 21-year-old Alex Whipple ^, was also missing from the home on Saturday morning. 

A gas station owner in the area told police that a disheveled Whipple had come to the station alone on Saturday.  He bought beer and cigarettes.  

Whipple was arrested on a probation violation a couple of hours later when police located him walking alone along a rural highway.

[HairOfTheDog]

Evidence

As the investigation and searches progressed, police came to believe that Whipple had not only abducted his niece, but also murdered her.

A knife missing from the house was found nearby, broken and with blood on it, along with a PVC pipe that had a red handprint that matched Whipple's.

In addition, a "hastily buried" bloodied teal skirt that is thought to be Elizabeth's was also found near a beer can with DNA that matched Whipple's.  

Whipple's watch and sweatshirt, both of which also had blood on them, were also located nearby.

[HairOfTheDog]

Charges

Today, Whipple was charged with one count of aggravated murder, child kidnapping, desecration of a body, and two counts of obstruction of justice, Logan Police Chief Gary Jensen said.

Jensen also reported that LE is working hard to locate Elizabeth's body.  They've asked for locals in the Logan area to hand over any surveillance video capturing Whipple and to come forward with any tips they may have.

LE is currently searching bodies of water, landfills, and garbage containers.  

I hope Whipple tells LE where he hid Elizabeth's body so her family can lay her to rest.  So far, however, the piece of shit has been uncooperative.

Refs:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/unc...d-n1011571
https://nypost.com/2019/05/28/cops-relea...ppearance/

[HairOfTheDog]

Body Found

This afternoon, Whipple reportedly told LE where he disposed of Elizabeth's body and she has been recovered.


Rest in peace.  

Logan Police are set to hold a press conference shortly.

Elizabeth's mom told police that she, her brother, and her live-in boyfriend had stayed up late playing cards and drinking beer and rum on Friday night.  When mom woke up in the morning, both her brother and her little girl were gone.

Whipple's attorney told the press that she believes it took him 5 days to reveal the location of the body because he knows he did a terrible thing that can't be fixed and he finally came to grips with it.  Yeah, whatever.

Story: https://www.sltrib.com/news/2019/05/29/n...l-collect/

[Duchess]

The Suspect

From the start, police suspected that the little girl's uncle, an ex-convict who was visiting the family, abducted Elizabeth. 

Smirkin' little bastard. In these particular cases I detest the wheels of justice. He's guilty as fuck and deserves to pay with his life now, not 20 years from now or even longer.

[HairOfTheDog]

I hear ya Duchess.  It's often a frustratingly long time before murder cases get resolved.

Utah is one of 30 states which still has a death penalty option for prosecutors, judges and juries.  So, I kinda wonder if the reason Whipple decided to tell police where Elizabeth was located today is because he learned of all the physical evidence they'd compiled against him and wanted to reduce the chances of facing the death penalty.

However, prosecutors frequently consult with the murder victim's family when deciding whether to seek the death penalty.  I don't know if Elizabeth's mom would be more or less inclined to push for it because the killer of her daughter is her own brother.

In any case, if Whipple pleads guilty instead of going to trial, he will very likely face life in prison rather than execution as the maximum sentence, and the wheels of justice will roll much faster than in a capital case.

[HairOfTheDog]

Update

At the press conference yesterday evening, Police Chief Jensen said that while the coroner's official confirmation is still pending, he is confident that 'police have found Lizzy'. He said that investigators have not established a motive for the crime. 

Jensen also noted that Whipple had offered the information in exchange for prosecutors taking the death penalty “off the table."  So fucking predictable.  

Jill Parker, a spokeswoman for the family, held back tears as she read a letter from Jessica Whipple, Lizzy’s mother, at the news conference.

“There are not words to express the sadness and the heartbreak we feel today," she read. "This did not end the way we wanted it to, but in this sadness we are comforted that so many people put forth so much effort to help us find Lizzy. You made the difference and we are so very grateful.”

The girl’s grandfather said Jessica Whipple didn’t see her younger brother often but decided to help him when he asked her to pick him up.

Gramps said Alex Whipple had a difficult childhood but had never showed violent tendencies.  Well, Gramps obviously did not know or chose not to acknowledge his son's record of violent crimes.

Story:  https://www.sltrib.com/news/2019/05/29/n...l-collect/

[BigMark]

How can we not put that asshole to death quickly?

[MirahM]

I agree.
FUcking asshole.
I hate this shit.

[HairOfTheDog]

Yesterday, Elizabeth "Lizzy" Shelley was laid to rest.



The little girl could never pick one favorite color, so she said her favorite color was 'rainbow'.   Her family and friends attended the services in brightly colored clothes in Lizzy's memory.

[HairOfTheDog]

And, today, police added rape and sodomy to the kidnapping and murder charges against her 21-year-old uncle, pictured below.



The prosecutor said the additional charges were based on newly received evidence from crime lab testing.

Unless Alex Whipple is kept out of general population for his own safety or housed with other pedophile child murderers, I won't be surprised if he gets seriously hurt or killed by other inmates in the not-so-distant future.  Piece of shit.

Ref: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...odomy.html

[Jimbone]

Fuck this guy. Hope the karma boomerang takes its time with him.

[Duchess]

He's not smirkin' now!