Found Deceased UT - Elizabeth Shelley, 5, Logan, 25 May 2019, *Uncle Arrested* #5

Here's a link to an article about Babyland in the Logan Cemetary and the Logan Hospital ER nurse who founded it. (I worked with her for many years, she is good people). No family in need of a burial plot has ever been turned away and the funeral services are comped or deeply discounted. It's good to know that Dianne worked her mojo for Lizzy's family.

‘A place of peace’
 
I suppose that if we play the "blame game", Jessica Whipple was at fault for letting her brother spend the night at her home. Alexander's parents were at fault for not being better parents...the list goes on.

In the end, the only person who is responsible for Lizzie's death is Alexander Whipple.
In no way is Jessica at fault, but I don’t think the corrections/parole “powers that be” should be let off the hook so easily. I don’t care how overworked or under-funded anyone is, if a parolee’s behavior isn’t going to be monitored and/or if known violations are going to be ignored then they shouldn’t have been paroled in the first place. MOO of course.
 
In no way is Jessica at fault, but I don’t think the corrections/parole “powers that be” should be let off the hook so easily. I don’t care how overworked or under-funded anyone is, if a parolee’s behavior isn’t going to be monitored and/or if known violations are going to be ignored then they shouldn’t have been paroled in the first place. MOO of course.
I agree, but he was never paroled, he was on probation. He never served the prison sentence. For some reason the courts decided to waive his sentence, from what I understand.
But I definitely agree that they could have arrested him on the warrant much earlier, as soon as he started not showing up and not complying with his treatment plans. Obviously there was a reason why he stopped showing up.
If only they had picked him up two months, or even two weeks earlier. Or even two days for that matter. Imo
 
In no way is Jessica at fault, but I don’t think the corrections/parole “powers that be” should be let off the hook so easily. I don’t care how overworked or under-funded anyone is, if a parolee’s behavior isn’t going to be monitored and/or if known violations are going to be ignored then they shouldn’t have been paroled in the first place. MOO of course.

I didn't mean to imply that Jessica is at "fault". Simply that the State of Utah is also a victim here. The system had no way to predict that a low level drug addict, with a theft charge, and no previous documented criminal history of violence or child molestation was a serious threat to society.

As such, the State cannot be held responsible or accountable for the crimes committed by AW, any more than his family members could have anticipated his deviant behavior.
 
I didn't mean to imply that Jessica is at "fault". Simply that the State of Utah is also a victim here. The system had no way to predict that a low level drug addict, with a theft charge, and no previous documented criminal history of violence or child molestation was a serious threat to society.

As such, the State cannot be held responsible or accountable for the crimes committed by AW, any more than his family members could have anticipated his deviant behavior.
This particular “low level drug addict” stole a car and took police on a multi-county high speed chase while intoxicated. Maybe if they had investigated carefully they would have found signs of violence, pedophilia and/or child abuse. Maybe not. Regardless, they had more than enough reason to believe he might drive impaired and kill someone, or many someones.

He committed a felony. He was sentenced to 5 years in jail but some legal genius thought he shouldn’t have to serve it. Which I guess would be fine if he stuck to his treatment protocol and stayed sober. But he didn’t, they knew it yet they continued to let him live freely among us. It’s distressing that this little girl would still be alive had he been locked up initially or hauled in when apparent he was violating probabtion. And it makes me angry that LE and social services workers involved w/him feel no responsibility or guilt.

I recently watched a show about Lauren McCloskey, the University of Utah student who was killed by her ex boyfriend. He turned out to be a paroled felon who was using an assumed name. When she discovered that and the fact he was a registered sex offender she broke up with him. When he began harassing and threatening her she reported him to campus police on numerous occassions. Campus police said they didn’t think he was a threat so she went to city LE who sent her back to campus police. Turns out campus police never even bothered to look him up or explore his parole requirements. She told them he had guns and was on parole. That alone would have been enough to lock him back up.

The university admitted all of the above but insist they had no way of predicting this guy would be a physical threat to Lauren. The University President to this day supports the campus police decisions.

Abused children not followed up by social services and winding up dead. Stalked and battered women (and men) who get no help from the legal system until it’s too late. Families mowed down by intoxicated drivers who have been arrested for driving drunk on revoked licenses multiple times. The Aurora theatre shooter who’s psychologist/counselor poo-pooed the idea that he should be put on 72 hour observation. Every day there are horrific stories in the news where red flags were there, but far too often people in the best position to prevent these tragedies don’t seem to think they have any accountability. IMO I think a culture of detached sense of responsibility is part of the overall problem.

I know there are thousands of LE and social workers who work hard, care and do their best to do the right thing. I’m sure it’s a hard, frustrating and often thankless job. But there are too many that don’t and they need to be identified. Give them training, resources and emotional support if that’s what they need to do the job well. But if it’s not available or it doesn’t help they shouldn’t be doing the job at all. For people w/issues it seems far to easy to push them to the perimeter and quit worrying about them because “we’ll be following up”. That’s fine but only if follow-up is taken seriously, because the “things” falling through the cracks are human lives.

MOO
 
As an adjunct to all of the exceptional posts above, I would also say that if you have someone or know someone who is on conditions by court order and you know they are not following those conditions and perhaps know they have a warrant, what would you do?

I was put in a position many years ago where someone not allowed to drink continually stopped by our place and they were drinking. I resented being put in that position, very much resented it. I did nothing about it although I wanted to--I struggled with it and again almost hated the people for putting us in that position (but did not show that either). I did not want to be a rat but I entirely disagreed with what they were doing. (It was a couple, one was on the conditions and I resented both). I did nothing and thankfully no one was harmed as a result but I still to this day resent being put in that position. It went against everything in me not to do something about it. Had the reasons for the order been minor too it may have not been so bad but he was on a no drink for a pretty serious reason although it had been some years prior.

Today I would not make the same decision. I would turn them in although I still would probably try to do it anonymously. At the very least, I would warn the people I was going to if they did not stop. I wanted to then but you know we are taught not to judge, we do not want to be the adult equivalent of a tattletale--a rat--and we most especially do not want to harm relationships.

I hate sharing this but I do so in the hope it may help someone trying to decide such a thing who is in such a position now. Had someone turned Alex in, a liquor store employee, a friend, who knows if Lizzy would be here.

I also agree that they should have been actively looking for him. His warrant was not over something minor like nonregistration or some unpaid speeding or parking tickets. What he did prior was serious. How hard can it be to find someone who walks everywhere and looks like him?

All jmo.
 
This particular “low level drug addict” stole a car and took police on a multi-county high speed chase while intoxicated. Maybe if they had investigated carefully they would have found signs of violence, pedophilia and/or child abuse. Maybe not. Regardless, they had more than enough reason to believe he might drive impaired and kill someone, or many someones.

He committed a felony. He was sentenced to 5 years in jail but some legal genius thought he shouldn’t have to serve it. Which I guess would be fine if he stuck to his treatment protocol and stayed sober. But he didn’t, they knew it yet they continued to let him live freely among us. It’s distressing that this little girl would still be alive had he been locked up initially or hauled in when apparent he was violating probabtion. And it makes me angry that LE and social services workers involved w/him feel no responsibility or guilt.

I recently watched a show about Lauren McCloskey, the University of Utah student who was killed by her ex boyfriend. He turned out to be a paroled felon who was using an assumed name. When she discovered that and the fact he was a registered sex offender she broke up with him. When he began harassing and threatening her she reported him to campus police on numerous occassions. Campus police said they didn’t think he was a threat so she went to city LE who sent her back to campus police. Turns out campus police never even bothered to look him up or explore his parole requirements. She told them he had guns and was on parole. That alone would have been enough to lock him back up.

The university admitted all of the above but insist they had no way of predicting this guy would be a physical threat to Lauren. The University President to this day supports the campus police decisions.

Abused children not followed up by social services and winding up dead. Stalked and battered women (and men) who get no help from the legal system until it’s too late. Families mowed down by intoxicated drivers who have been arrested for driving drunk on revoked licenses multiple times. The Aurora theatre shooter who’s psychologist/counselor poo-pooed the idea that he should be put on 72 hour observation. Every day there are horrific stories in the news where red flags were there, but far too often people in the best position to prevent these tragedies don’t seem to think they have any accountability. IMO I think a culture of detached sense of responsibility is part of the overall problem.

I know there are thousands of LE and social workers who work hard, care and do their best to do the right thing. I’m sure it’s a hard, frustrating and often thankless job. But there are too many that don’t and they need to be identified. Give them training, resources and emotional support if that’s what they need to do the job well. But if it’s not available or it doesn’t help they shouldn’t be doing the job at all. For people w/issues it seems far to easy to push them to the perimeter and quit worrying about them because “we’ll be following up”. That’s fine but only if follow-up is taken seriously, because the “things” falling through the cracks are human lives.

MOO

Bears repeating. Thanks @Colorado303.
 
Here's a link to an article about Babyland in the Logan Cemetary and the Logan Hospital ER nurse who founded it. (I worked with her for many years, she is good people). No family in need of a burial plot has ever been turned away and the funeral services are comped or deeply discounted. It's good to know that Dianne worked her mojo for Lizzy's family.

‘A place of peace’

What a wonderful story. It totally choked me up- so glad you shared!

This woman is a prime example of how we can each find a way to make a positive difference in the lives of others.
 
This particular “low level drug addict” stole a car and took police on a multi-county high speed chase while intoxicated. Maybe if they had investigated carefully ....,(snipped)....
Every day there are horrific stories in the news where red flags were there, but far too often people in the best position to prevent these tragedies don’t seem to think they have any accountability. IMO I think a culture of detached sense of responsibility is part of the overall problem.

I know there are thousands of LE and social workers who work hard, ....

MOO
Right there. That. You know I was in a Panera and there was a guy who was passing out sitting up and was clearly overdosed on drugs and everyone had just cleared the booth around him. It was surreal. I looked around me and everyone ate their salads and talked and looked away from him like he wasn’t there. So I went to try to get a manager but they were busy and no one came to the counter. So I walked out to my car and called the place on the phone from the parking lot and asked for the manager. “Oh hes back? I already asked him to leave once.”
Wow. I wanted to help the guy but I also didn’t want to get attacked by a junkie who was seemingly invisible to everyone but me. It really bothered me though how people are so complacent about things that don’t directly impact them.
 

Test

_________________________________________________________________ IN THE FIRST DISTRICT COURT - ALL DEPARTMENTIN AND FOR CACHE COUNTY, STATE OF UTAH _________________________________________________
AFFIDAVIT FOR SEARCH WARRANT
STATE OF UTAH ) :ssCounty of Cache )The undersigned affiant, Detective Andrew Soelberg of Logan City Police Department,upon an oath or written affidavit subscribed under criminal penalty, declares:That your affiant has reason to believe:THATOn the premises known as 111 S 400 W, Logan, UT 84321, further described asA grey stucco house with white trim. The numbers "111" are attached to a poston the east side of the residence. There is a blue door to the entry with windowson the top half of the door with white trim.;In the City of Logan, County of Cache, State of Utah, there is now certain property orevidence described as:Any property belonging to Alexander William Whipple, Knife block and set,any forensic evidence that would assist investigators in determining thecircumstances surrounding the disappearance of a 5 year old female with theinitials ES.and that said property or evidence:Was unlawfully acquired or is unlawfully possessed;has been used or is possessed for the purpose of being used to commit orconceal the commission of an offense; oris evidence of illegal conduct.Affiant believes the property and evidence described above is evidence of the crimeor crimes of Murder (UCA 76-5-203), Aggravated Sexual abuse of a Child (UCA

—-

- Page 2 of Affidavit for Search Warrant No. 1949781 -
76-5-404.1), Aggravated Kidnapping (UCA 76-5-301), Unlawful detention of a minor(UCA 76-5-304).The facts to establish the grounds for issuance of a Search Warrant are:Your Affiant, Officer Soelberg, has been a Law Enforcement Officer for over 7years. Your Affiant is currently certified by Utah Police Officer Standards andTraining (POST) as a Law Enforcement officer. Your Affiant is currently assignedas a Detective in the Major Crimes Division with the Logan City Police Department.Your Affiant has served in this position for over 4 years. Your Affiant has been amember of the Logan City Police Department SWAT team for the last 5 years. YourAffiant has received training and experience regarding the investigation of crimesinvovling missing persons, sexual exploitation of minors, sex offenses involvingminors obstruction of justice, attempted homicide, and homicide. Your Affiant hasinvestigated and assisted in investigating a number of cases which resulted in theconviction on charges related to the above mentioned types of crimes. Your Affiant has attended multiple trainings related to the investigation of variouscrimes and investigative procedures including: Interviews and Body language,Advanced Crime Scene, Forensic Statement Analysis, Forensic InterviewTechniques, Advanced Homicide Investigations, Human Remains Discovery,Investigating Officer Involved Shootings, and Open Source Investigations. Your Affiant is a certified Cellebrite UFED operator and examiner. Cellebrite UFEDenables advanced extraction, decoding, analysis and reporting of mobile data.On 5/25/19 Logan City Police were made aware of a missing 5 year old juvenilefrom the area of 111 S 400 W, this notification came from the juvenile's parentsDetrich Black and Jessica Whipple. The missing juvenile in question will bereferred to by initials of ES. On 5/24/19 Alexander Whipple was in the home of ESand spending time with the parents of ES. After midnight, ES’s parents retired tobed and saw that she was in bed. At this same time Alexander was on the couchinebriated and appeared to be going to sleep. At 1000 hours on 5/25/19 ES’s parents went to check on ES and found she wasnot there and Alexander was gone as well. Alexander’s phone was also found atthe house. Alexander is currently a fugitive from AP&P and has multiple warrantsissued for his arrest. During the course of the investigation detectives learnedAlexander’s phone only works with WiFi and he commonly utilizes social mediaapps such as Facebook Messenger to communicate with associates. While conducting a canvas and search of the area attempting to locate ES,investigators located a knife with what appears to be blood on the blade andhandle. The knife was also broken.The knife was found in the public area of acharter school property located at 75 S 400 W, Logan. Logan City Police DetectiveFowler confirmed this knife appeared to be the exact same kind and appeared to

—-

- Page 3 of Affidavit for Search Warrant No. 1949781 -
match the knife set that was in Jessica and Detrich's house. Upon first inspection,a knife did appear to be missing from the knife set in Jessica and Detrich's house.Nearby the knife there was a white PVC pipe and a black bucket that appearedto have blood on them. Later during the continuation of the canvas mentioned above investigators locateda size 5T teal skirt hastily concealed under bark within the block behind 75 S 400W.Around 1507 hours, Alexander was located alone in the Hyrum area, walkingsouth. Deputies located on Alexander's person a glass pipe similar to those utilizedto smoke marijuana The odor of marijuana was also present. Alexander wastransported to the Logan City Police Department and is being interviewed bydetectives.When Alexander was first brought into the interview room he began to wipehis hands in what appeared to be an attempt to clean something off of them.Alexander was advised of his Miranda rights. While questioning Alexander, he atfirst said he was not at Jessica and Detrich's house last night. Later, Alexandersaid that he was at Jessica and Detrich's house last night but did not see ES lastnight. Detective Woods confronted Alexander a few times, saying we believedhe knows were ES is and knows what happened to her. Alexander gave verysoft denials and appeared to stall before answering the questions. The timelineand story Alexander gave was inconsistent with the story and timeline Jessicaand Detrich gave. Detective Woods, who was questioning Alexander, said thereappeared to be blood on Alexander's pants. During the interview, Detective Woodsnoticed a small laceration on the pointer finger of Alexander's hand. The woundcould be consistent with someone holding a knife and stabbing, then the handslides onto the blade of the knife. The search of the residence will assist investigators in gathering further evidenceto assist in locating ES.This affidavit has been reviewed by Dane Murray of the Cache County Attorney's OfficeOffice, and it has been approved for presentation to the court.WHEREFORE, your affiant prays that a Search Warrant be issued for the seizure ofsaid items in the daytime.
I declare under criminal penalty of the State of Utah that the foregoing is trueand correct.
Executed on: 25th day of May, 2019 @ 08:00 PM by /s/ Andrew Soelberg



- Page 1 of Search Warrant No. 1949781 -
_________________________________________________________________ IN THE FIRST DISTRICT COURT - ALL DEPARTMENTIN AND FOR CACHE COUNTY, STATE OF UTAH _________________________________________________
SEARCH WARRANT
No. 1949781COUNTY OF CACHE, STATE OF UTAHTo any peace officer in the State of Utah:proof by Affidavit made upon oath or written affirmation subscribed under criminalpenalty of the State of Utah having been made to me by Detective Andrew Soelbergof Logan City Police Department, this day, I am satisfied that there is probable causeto believeTHATOn the premises known as 111 S 400 W, Logan, UT 84321, further described asA grey stucco house with white trim. The numbers "111" are attached to a poston the east side of the residence. There is a blue door to the entry with windowson the top half of the door with white trim.;In the City of Logan, County of Cache, State of Utah, there is now certain property orevidence described as:Any property belonging to Alexander William Whipple, Knife block and set,any forensic evidence that would assist investigators in determining thecircumstances surrounding the disappearance of a 5 year old female with theinitials ES.and that said property or evidence:Was unlawfully acquired or is unlawfully possessed;has been used or is possessed for the purpose of being used to commit orconceal the commission of an offense; oris evidence of illegal conduct.
 
Right there. That. You know I was in a Panera and there was a guy who was passing out sitting up and was clearly overdosed on drugs and everyone had just cleared the booth around him. It was surreal. I looked around me and everyone ate their salads and talked and looked away from him like he wasn’t there. So I went to try to get a manager but they were busy and no one came to the counter. So I walked out to my car and called the place on the phone from the parking lot and asked for the manager. “Oh hes back? I already asked him to leave once.”
Wow. I wanted to help the guy but I also didn’t want to get attacked by a junkie who was seemingly invisible to everyone but me. It really bothered me though how people are so complacent about things that don’t directly impact them.
Reminds me of the time I was at a Starbucks and an employee came up from the back and said something in Spanish to 3 workers behind the counter. One of them asked another what he’d said, and they translated he said so and so collapsed in the back room and he was trying to call her father but couldn’t get through. To my astonishment no one made a move to go check on her.

I used to be an EMT so I asked to see her. She was alone, lying on the floor indeed unconscious. I told the guy who announced she was down to call 911. He was the only one who seemed to give a damn. I tried to get a history but the people she worked w/just shrugged. The fellow who called 911 would have answered my questions but unfortunately the language barrier made that impossible.

While waiting for paramedics she responded slightly to my sternal rub. She was very pale, kind of clammy and almost completely out of it but respiration and pulse were pretty normal. When paramedics arrived I was the only one who greeted them and showed them where she was.

My best guess is she had a seizure because her physical symptoms weren’t inconsistent w/a post-dictal state, but to this day I don’t know what was wrong w/her. It could have been an OD, seizure or diabetic event (she had no med-alert jewelry). I’ve often wondered what caused her condition, for my own education and also to try to understand why only that one employee seemed remotely concerned. I can’t imagine a whole store full of employees being that callous unless they were used to her collapsing. But whatever the cause of her collapse, I suspect it could someday kill her. And in all likelihood if it does, only that one guy will think for a moment that maybe they could and should have done something to try and prevent it.

Fortunately in my experience it’s far more common for people to go above and beyond to help other human beings, sometimes in spectacular, humbling ways. But then there are some that really should take a good long look in the mirror. Unfortunately it seems the only ones inclined to do so are the ones who need to the least.
 
I suppose that if we play the "blame game", Jessica Whipple was at fault for letting her brother spend the night at her home. Alexander's parents were at fault for not being better parents...the list goes on.

In the end, the only person who is responsible for Lizzie's death is Alexander Whipple.
True.
Sadly, in all probability, Jessica is dealing with more guilt and remorse issues that Alexander is. I think it is only natural that she would be thinking that "If I had only ... my little girl would still be here with me."
But she is definitely only another victim, and not at all at fault. That doesn't make it any easier, though.
 
It’s going to be a long time before I will forget hearing Jessica crying out her daughter’s name before the vigil. Whenever I see this thread has been bumped I hear Jessica wailing “Lizzie!” and I just want to cry. I wish I could make her pain go away. I really do.
 
Next week, on June 24, 2019, is AW's court hearing date. I am hoping that he just waives a trial. There is only one potential outcome here, LWOP. He can get on the prison bus, directly to Utah State prison in Bluffdale. About 2 1/2-3 hours away.

I wonder if AW's Mother is still supporting him, talking to him.
 

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