Utah’s Cold Cases: Over 450 Unsolved Crimes Still Haunt The State

Did you know that there are more than 450 cold cases -- unsolved major crimes -- in the state of Utah right now?

According to Utah's Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), these cases include homicide, missing persons and unidentified deceased persons.

"Last legislative session, Utah lawmakers passed Senate Bill 160 which required all law enforcement agencies in Utah to enter their cold cases and missing persons cases into the database. The Utah Department of Public Safety (DPS) is spearheading the effort and has been provided funding for the database and for a fulltime cold case analyst." -- BCI website

Four different divisions of Utah law enforcement have been assigned to these cold cases:

1. Utah's BCI Crime Lab
2. The State Bureau of Investigation
3. The State Information and Analysis Center
4. The Bureau of Criminal Identification

So what does that mean? Basically, the state legislators are hoping that shining a light on these cases may bring a resolution to some of them -- maybe spark a memory or a detail that may have not yet come to light.

Here are just a few of the heartbreaking cases:

• In 2005, 15-year-old Aaron Dowdle and a friend were attacked by unknown person/persons, then left to die. His friend, whose body was dumped in a different location than Aaron, survived the attack, but has no memory of what happened. Dowdle's lifeless body was found in South Salt Lake more than a month after he was assaulted. f anyone has information about the crime, contact South Salt Lake police at 801-840-4000.
• Ann Woodward was a waitress at Woody's Bar in Moab. She was attacked, raped and murdered some time after closing in the early-morning hours of Mar. 2 , 1973. Ann owned the bar with her husband, Woody Woodward and sadly he's the one who found her body that fateful morning. The couple had been married 20 years. Robbery was listed as the motive for the attack, but the perpetrator was never found. Moab City Police Department (435) 259-8938
• Darrel Nichols, a 20-year old college student, went hiking with friends in the hills surrounding Park City in the spring of 1973. His friends say they lost sight of Darrel and never saw him again. Park City Police Department (435) 615-5500
• Tobey Baker, a stocky Native American who had just celebrated his 28th birthday, checked into the Motel 6 on 1000 East in St. George. Motel managers confirmed that Baker stayed the night in the rented room, but no one saw him leave the next day and no one has seen him since. His credit cards were used in St. George and Mesquite the next day, but authorities don't believe it was Baker that used them. If you have any idea where Baker may have gone or what may have happened to him call Washington County Sheriffs Office (435) 656-6500.

These are just four examples of the hundreds of cases listed on the BCI Cold Cases website.

Some of the cases are 70 or more years old, but all of them have one thing in common -- no one has ever come forward with information as to what really happened to these people.

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