Alex Franco.Photo:Alex Franco/Facebook
Alex Franco/Facebook
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.
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.”
Alex Franco.Alex Franco/Facebook
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Franco’s grandmother, Shellie Kilpatrick, told local outletScripps 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 toldABC4 News. “It felt like it was all a dream and I just wanted to pinch myself awake.”
source: people.com
