Tooele County Sheriff's Office
Police search property of missing Eureka teen's mother
LOFGREEN, Tooele County — Investigators recently searched the property of the mother of a Eureka teen who has not been seen since Dec. 30, according to a new search warrant affidavit.
Riley Powell, 18, and Brelynne "Breezy" Otteson, 17, were officially reported missing Jan. 2 after embarking on a drive from Tooele to Eureka days earlier. On Jan. 11, Powell's missing Jeep was found partially hidden in trees, about a mile south of Cherry Creek Reservoir. The two passenger-side tires were flat.
Based on evidence collected at the scene, the Juab County Sheriff's Office announced that foul play is suspected in the couple's disappearance.
According to a warrant unsealed Monday in Tooele County's 3rd District Court: "The rear passenger tire had a puncture in the side wall that appeared to be straight in with a smaller flat shaped object. The front passenger tire had two punctures identical to the rear tire. There was no tear in the side wall that would indicate that the tires were moving when punctured."
A witness reported to investigators that
a truck was spotted pulling a Jeep like "the one Riley is always driving" on Jan. 2 in the Lofgreen area, located off state Route 36 between Vernon and Eureka.
The truck matched the description of a vehicle driven by the boyfriend of Powell's mother, the warrant states.
On Jan. 15, Tooele County sheriff's deputies and deputies from the Sanpete/Juab Major Crimes Task Force went to the property where Powell's mother lives with her boyfriend, Riley Powell's grandmother and the grandmother's boyfriend, the warrant states.
A camouflage tie down strap, identical to the one found in Powell's Jeep, was seized, according to the affidavit.
"Based on the above facts, it is suspected that the blue Chevy truck described above was used to transport, conceal, hide and plant the victims' vehicle in Cherry Creek at the location it was discovered, to give the illusion that the victims were indeed stranded," investigators wrote in the warrant.
Three of the residents, including Powell's mother and grandmother, willingly went to the Tooele County Sheriff's Office to be interviewed. The boyfriend of the mother did not, the warrant states.
Police say the three people who were interviewed had different accounts about where Powell's mother and her boyfriend were on New Year's Eve. She claimed she was at her residence. Two others said she was not, the affidavit says.
The warrant requested the use of K-9 and cadaver dogs to search the property.
Other items seized included a receipt from a store in Eureka dated Dec. 28, according to the warrant.
In previous court documents, it was revealed that the couple was seen in the Eureka area on the afternoon of Dec. 30 heading west on U.S. 6 out of town. The couple started driving on Dec. 30 and had planned to stop in Spanish Fork before going home to Eureka, where the two live with Powell's grandfather.
Juab County Sheriff Doug Anderson could not comment Monday on the search warrant. He said there are currently several "investigative leads" in the case but no persons of interest. He said several warrants had been served as part of the investigation and different leads are coming into his office each day.