Breaking: Medical Examiner IDs bodies found dumped in abandoned mine in Utah County

Breezy Otteson and Riley Powell. Photos: Facebook

UTAH COUNTY, Utah, March 30, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — The Utah County Sheriff’s Office announced Friday that the Medical Examiner has confirmed the identities of the bodies found 100 feet below ground level, in an abandoned mine.

As suspected, the bodies recovered from Tintic Standard #2 mine on March 28 have been identified by the Medical Examiner as Brelynne “Breezy” Marie Ottesen, age 17, and Riley Lee Powell, age 18.

“The bodies were transported to the Medical Examiner’s office in Taylorsville,” the Sheriff’s Office statement says. “Initial indications were that they were the bodies of Breezy Otteson and Riley Powell. The condition of their bodies strongly suggested that their deaths were not accidental.

“Following autopsies the Medical Examiner was able to positively identify the bodies as being Breezy and Riley.”

A Mammoth, Utah, man was arrested Wednesday for the murder of Powell and Otteson.

Jerrod William Baum, 41, has been booked into the Utah County Jail on charges of:

  • Two counts of aggravated murder, a first-degree felony
  • Two counts of aggravated kidnapping, a first-degree felony
  • Possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, a third-degree felony
  • Abuse or desecration of a dead human body, a third-degree felony
  • Tampering with a witness, a third-degree felony

According to information from a probable cause statement, it appears the murders were sparked by jealousy after Powell and Otteson visited Baum’s girlfriend, Morgan Lewis Henderson, when Baum was not present.

“Morgan told detectives that the day after Riley and Brelynne came to her house, Jerrod let her know that he knew they had come over,” the statement says.

“He told her that he had previously instructed her not to have guy friends and that it was too bad because he has never killed an innocent before.”

The teens’ bodies were found with stab wounds, and their hands were bound behind their backs.

 

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