I lived in Logan for about 30 years before moving to southern Utah three years ago. I heard about this case because I got an emergency alert on my cel "asking residents to search their own property thoroughly and nearby property as much as possible."
The beginning of the message was garbled so I looked at the phone number, recognized it as probably being in Logan, verified with reverse directory - yep, Logan PD. Evidently the cel number I obtained while living there is still on the local roster. I googled and then came here and read the ongoing threads. (I joined many years ago because of the JonBenet and Caylee Anthony cases).
Logan and the other little towns that make up Cache Valley are small enough that most people in the residential areas are fairly plugged into their neighbor's situation (not out in the farmland, obviously). I can't think of even one neighbor I had over the years where the concept of "private property" would stop me or them from thoroughly romping the yard or field and outbuildings next door or down the street or a mile away - and yet, sadly, it happened.
I will say I wasn't hopeful that the search for Lizzy would be well and professionally done and I think that was borne out by her body being overlooked in the next block over from her residence.
The KUTV map linked below marks the two houses in question; the same neighborhood on the google map will zoom. Center Street, from the east side of town to the west side, is the heart of Logan's historic district, where the pioneer polygamists had large homes and larger yards. Even the smaller homes in that district have large yards.
Using satellite view, look at where Lizzy's house is, look at the charter school parking lot directly across the street. Crossing the street to the school and going to the end of the school's parking lot took him 2/3 of the way to where he hid her body (under the large tree that looks like brown cauliflower). After walking north to the end of the parking lot he turned left/west, went across the back of two empty yards, and left her under the tree.
It's less than one block and at the most two minutes from her front door to where her body was found.
In that particular Center Street block, look at the large area made up of four (at this time of year) untended and unplanted back yards and add that to the size of the parking lot. He traveled through the only deserted and undeveloped space on that entire block and that's also where he left her. He only had to worry about being seen or heard by one house, the house next to the school's parking lot.
One block west you can easily see Cafe Sabor in front of the train track that runs north and south along 600 West, and Western Mechanical on 700 West behind the train track where he was captured on video. It's two blocks and probably three minutes from where he left her body to Western Mechanical.
For the last two years Cache Valley has suffered from a plague of every variety of abuse and neglect - I don't remember anything like it before. I've gotten used to bracing myself before reading the newspaper online. I talked with a former neighbor recently and she said the same thing.
I've seen some posts wondering about the defense attorney. Cache Valley is like a lot of small and insular communities. Prosecutors file high and defense attorneys are the counterweight to that. If more people had a clue about the charges they will probably end up with (even without very much legal maneuvering) as opposed to the charges that are initially filed - they would opt for a public defender, but everyone panics. There is a comfortable and self-perpetuating system in place that benefits The Powers That Be. His attorney has handled probably 95% of Cache Valley's "big" cases for the last 25 years and 65% of the rest, and he is not camera-shy.
Logan PD and Cache County Sheriffs for the most part are good at what they do; missteps are usually because of politics and personalities. Last year a CC sheriff "forgot" his K-9 partner in the back of the truck and he died of heat stroke over 4th of July weekend. The officer was fired and pleaded guilty to animal cruelty. About 5 years ago the animal control officer in an outlying town left an impounded dog unattended in a kennel over 4 days in June and that dog died; he tried to hide his crime by dumping the body in the landfill and he resigned. I do remember that the city refused to release his name for awhile (which was easy enough for any local to find out by asking around), I don't recall how that was resolved.
Last January, one of the outlying city managers pointed a loaded 9mm handgun at three employees during a meeting. He was demoted (not fired, demoted) but family connections (including a son-in-law on the city council) got him reinstated; two of those employees resigned and filed a grievance which I don't think has been adjudicated yet.
Preston, Idaho is about 40 miles north of Logan and geographically and philosophically a part of Cache Valley. A Preston junior high school science teacher was acquitted of animal cruelty last year after feeding a live (allegedly sickly) puppy to a snapping turtle in front of some students. IIRC a boa turned up his nose at the offering so the turtle got it instead. The movie
Napoleon Dynamite was filmed in Preston, to give you an idea of the local flavor in this part of the country.
I hope this post has provided some insight into what has already happened and what transpires as you continue to follow this case.
Neighbor says he was feet away from Elizabeth Shelley's body during first search day
Google Maps
google maps Bear River Charter School
