UINTAH COUNTY, Utah, Dec. 6, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — A man and woman are facing charges of harboring a runaway juvenile and obstruction of justice after an 11-year-old missing girl was located at a residence near her home in Lapoint.
A news release from Uintah County Sheriff’s Office Thursday evening at 9 p.m. said: “After a search lasting over 16 hours, an 11-year-old missing juvenile was located at a residence not far from her home.”
The search for the juvenile began Tuesday night, when she left her home around 6 p.m., the news release said. Lapoint is approximately 17 miles west of Vernal.
Deputies from the Uintah County Sheriff’s Office, Uintah County Search and Rescue, agencies with the Ute Tribe, and Classic Air Helicopter took part in an exhaustive search the news release said.
“Teams of searchers checked properties and buildings, went door to door, and utilized information from community members throughout the incident in an effort to locate the juvenile,” the news release said.
Late in the morning Wednesday, law enforcement received a tip that led them to a residence in Lapoint, where the 11-year-old girl was found.
“Investigators learned that the girl had been at that location overnight and had stayed in a fifth-wheel camper with two adults that also live there,” the news release said.
Both adults, identified as Jared Ekker and Laura Moore, were arrested and booked into the Uintah County Jail for harboring a runaway juvenile and obstruction of justice.
Officials did not say what relationship, if any, Ekker and Moore had to the missing juvenile.
The investigation is ongoing, the news release said.
Gephardt Daily will have more on this developing story as information is made available.
