TAYLORSVILLE, Utah, Dec. 31, 2025 (Gephardt Daily) — Court documents are providing new insights into the investigation that led to a suspect’s arrest in the murder of a Herriman man.
Kevin Van Beuge, 60, was reported missing by family members Sunday, one day after he failed to return from a meeting where he planned to buy auto parts from a man he had dealt with previously.
According to an affidavit of probable cause filed in Salt Lake County Third District Court, Van Beuge’s body was found Monday in a shallow grave in Tooele, the victim of gunshot wounds.
The alleged suspect, Jeffrey Mauricio Lopez, 32, told police he met with Van Beuge early Saturday morning, and had “met with Kevin on several occasions to sell Kevin vehicle parts.”
Herriman police initially connected Lopez to the murder through a Venmo payment Van Beuge had made to Lopez just after 6 a.m. Saturday.
Van Beuge’s vehicle was then found “unoccupied in Taylorsville,” arrest documents say. “Significant amounts of blood were located near the vehicle and later discovered on the frame of the vehicle.”
A security recording from a nearby residence showed the vehicle arriving where it was found, and an “unknown Hispanic male” walking away from the vehicle “holding what appeared to be a firearm in his hand. The Hispanic male wore a dark hooded sweatshirt, jeans, baseball style hat, and had a mustache.”
“A records search for Lopez revealed his home address as being a short distance from the vehicle’s recovery location. The photo attached to Lopez’s Utah drivers license was compared to the footage obtained from when the vehicle was parked and appeared to be a match.”
Finding the remains
Investigators filed search warrants for the vehicle’s GPS information, to learn where the victim’s vehicle had been before being found. They then drove to GPS coordinates for a Tooele County location.
“This location was searched and a shallow grave was located. Within the grave a deceased adult male was located and was later identified as Kevin Van Beuge. An autopsy was conducted and the preliminary finding indicated Kevin’s cause of death was due to gunshot wounds to the right arm and chest.”
Through further investigation, officials learned that Van Beuge left his Herriman home Saturday and drove to a business in Murray.
“The timestamps of the GPS locations of Kevin’s vehicle and the time of the Venmo transaction correspond,” court documents say.
Police located Lopez at a Murray business that corresponded with the GPS location Van Beuge’s vehicle had visited early Saturday. Lopez was transported to the Herriman Police Department for an interview.
“Lopez was advised of his rights, via the Miranda warning,” his arrest documents say. “Lopez stated he understood his rights and agreed to speak with investigators. Lopez stated he met with Kevin on several occasions to sell Kevin vehicle parts. He stated Kevin met with him at the business early in the morning on Saturday, December 27th, 2025.
“Lopez then claimed he and Kevin went together to several locations in Tooele, Salt Lake, and Wasatch counties to use Kevin’s bank card at different ATMs. Lopez then stated Kevin was picked up by another individual leaving the truck with Lopez. Lopez stated he later parked the vehicle in a predetermined location near his home for Kevin to retrieve.”
ATM evidence
Investigators collected receipts and security videos from several of the ATM transactions that “show a male in a homemade mask, alone in a vehicle, attempting these transactions. Many of the transactions failed. Other obtained security videos showed Lopez park Kevin’s truck at a grocery store, enter the store alone and purchase gloves and the material used to make the mask.”
Lopez was booked into jail Tuesday for investigation of the alleged crimes of:
- Aggravated murder, a first-degree felony
- Aggravated kidnapping, a first-degree felony
- Aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony
- Abuse/desecration of a dead human body, a third-degree felony
Lopez was ordered held without bail.
“Lopez has shown depraved indifference to human life,” the Herriman PD officer who filed the arrest document wrote.
“Lopez lured the victim to a location under the guise of selling vehicle parts. Shot the victim, loaded the victim into the bed of the victim’s vehicle, attempted multiple financial transactions using various types of payment methods belonging to the victim, and drove to various locations throughout three separate counties.
“Lopez left the victim in the bed of the truck for over a day until he located a secluded location to bury the victim in a shallow grave.”
Charging documents also say Lopez “has ties outside of the country and is not a citizen of this country although is living here under legal status. Lopez could likely flee to another country to avoid prosecution.”
Salt Lake County jail records, however, list Lopez as a U.S. citizen.
Salt Lake County jail. Image: Google Streets
