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AMERICAN FORK, Utah, Feb. 17, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — The family and friends of Jerika Alvey Binks, missing from American Fork since Feb. 18 last year, commemorated the anniversary of her disappearance with a gathering Sunday at Art Dye Park.
Binks, who was 24 when she went missing, was last seen in person at about 9 a.m. in the area of 300 N. 1100 East (North Utah County Boulevard) in American Fork. She had been staying at a residential treatment center.
Last May, her family released photographs they say were captured on a motion-activated camera on the day Jerika went running and didn’t return.
A “Finding Jerika” page on Facebook said the images were captured by a Utah Department of Natural Resources camera at approximately 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 18.
The family posted at that time: My sister Jerika Alvey Binks was alive and well at 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 18. Which corresponds with the time of her last cellphone ping in Saratoga Springs. A DNR motion activated camera caught shots of her running DOWN on the National Timpanogos Cave trail, up American Fork canyon…. They say it’s her coming down the trail, there is not footage of her coming up, which leads us to believe she gained access to the trail elsewhere. Furthermore, that leads us to believe someone showed her an entrance prior to her run that day.
The family clarified that Binks was not physically in Saratoga Springs that day, but that was the last tower that registered her phone as she headed up American Fork Canyon.
Since she went missing, there has been no activity from her phone or on her bank account. Binks left all her belongings behind except for her phone, including her wallet and ID, officials said.
Family and volunteer searches of the area have failed to turn up any leads. Members of the UCSO Search & Rescue team have also used air assets and ground crews, including K-9s, to search, without success.
Binks’ family, along with Fast Gas Convenience Stores and an anonymous donor, are offering a $10,000 reward for successful help in finding her or for details that lead to the arrest and conviction of anyone involved with her disappearance, according to information from the Facebook page.
Binks is described as Caucasian, 5 feet 4 inches, 120 pounds, with brown hair and eyes. Foul play has not been ruled out.
