AMERICAN FORK, Utah, Sept. 3, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — The family of Jerika Alvey Binks, missing from American Fork since Feb. 18, hopes that a billboard put up alongside Interstate 15 might lead to answers about her whereabouts.
A family run Facebook page, “Finding Jerika,” said the billboard was donated by the Reagan Outdoor Advertising Company.
A post on the page from one of Jerika’s siblings said: “My mother reached out to many and you guys are the first to open your hearts, and did this kind charity towards our efforts to bring Jerika home! We want to thank so many new people we have met that are helping us and bringing us new hope. We are so close! Please keep sharing, liking, praying, and showing your hearts for Jerika!”
Binks, who would now be 25, 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.
Back in May, her family released photographs they say were captured on a motion-activated camera on the day Jerika went running and didn’t return.
The “Finding Jerika” page 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 in a Facebook discussion 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, a statement from the Utah County Sheriff’s Office 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.
Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Pratt with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office at 801-851-4013, or Utah Valley Dispatch at 801-794-3970.
