PROVO, Utah, Dec. 3, 2015 (Gephardt Daily) — Police confirmed Thursday the woman found dead in a thicket of scrub oak in northeast Provo is 41-year-old Nicole Harris.
The married mother of four, a cousin of former NFL great Steve Young, was last seen outside her Provo home Oct. 24 and had not been heard from since.
Lt. Brandon Post, of the Provo Police Department, said the body ─ found Wednesday afternoon by a hiker ─ is fairly decomposed. Post said there were no obvious signs of foul play.
The Provo Police Department posted a Facebook update Thursday afternoon:
“Around 10:45 am on March 2, 2016, local residents were hiking on their property above the 4200 block of Chapel View Circle and observed what looked like a person lying in a thicket of scrub oak. The individuals called Provo Police to conduct a welfare check, and officers discovered that the individual was deceased. Detectives then processed the scene and determined there were no obvious signs of foul play.
“Today, the Office of the Medical Examiner confirmed the identity of the deceased as 41-year-old Provo resident Nicole Harris. Nicole’s family reported her as missing on October 26, 2015.
“We have notified the Harris family of this development, and we wish to extend our condolences during this difficult time. While this isn’t the desired outcome, we hope this update will provide both the family, and the community some measure of closure.”
A statement released by the missing woman’s family in November said: “Steve Young, his mother Sherry Young, Nicole’s mother, siblings and the rest of her family are very concerned for her safety. Family and friends are starting to think Nicole might have been abducted or have been the victim of some other kind of foul play. There’s also concern that she might have gone hiking and fell or got lost.”
The family of Harris told officers she had been struggling with mental illness, which may have been a factor in her disappearance.
