JUAB COUNTY, Utah, Sept. 9, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — The Orem Police Department has confirmed that bodies strongly believed to be those of Emily Quijano Almiron and her young son, Gabriel Almiron — missing since 2015 — have been recovered in Juab County.
Almiron’s former boyfriend, Christopher Poulson, pleaded guilty last month to causing the death of both Almiron, 23, and Gabe, 3. His plea deal required he provide the location of the bodies, but initial searches had not produced results.
Officials from the FBI, the Juab County Sheriff’s Office and the Juab County Search and Rescue Team met outside the town of Eureka on Friday to collaborate on the search for remains.
“During these efforts, the Juab County Search and Rescue Team came across what they believed to be a shallow grave in an area about five miles south of the city of Eureka,” says the Orem Police statement, released Monday afternoon.
“Human remains were found inside this shallow grave. The remains were extracted under a joint effort involving the Orem Police Department, the FBI, the Juab County Sheriff’s Office, and the Utah Office of the Medical Examiner.
“Those remains have now been examined by the Medical Examiner’s Office and have been preliminarily identified as belonging to both Emily and Gabe.”
The statement thanked the involved agencies for their help, adding, “Our hearts also go out to the families of Emily and Gabe. We hope that these efforts have brought some peace and comfort into your lives.”
Poulson, 30, has pleaded guilty to murder, a first-degree felony, and to manslaughter, a second-degree felony, in the deaths of Almiron and her toddler son, who lived in Orem.
Besides providing information on the bodies’ location, the plea deal reduced a second murder charge to the manslaughter charge, and two charges of abuse or desecration of a dead human body were dismissed.
Poulson originally told investigators he broke up with Almiron four days before she was reported missing, saying he ended the relationship because he believed Almiron was using meth.
A statement later read in court reportedly said that Poulson had been babysitting Gabriel when he severely injured the child. Rather than taking Gabriel to the hospital, Poulson reportedly put Gabriel to bed, and later found the boy dead.
Poulson said rather than tell Almiron of her son’s death, he killed her.
Investigators tracking Poulson’s phone locations after the mother and child’s disappearance discovered he went to dumpsters in two areas of Orem, and bought work gloves and a shovel at a Walmart in Springville.
Months later, police found Almiron’s red Prius in a St. George parking lot. Its windows were open and there was a diaper bag in the back seat.
Poulson’s sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 26.
