Detectives hope GPS device holds answers in woman's death at Arches - KSL.com

1 year ago 32

Investigators successful Grand County are hoping a GPS instrumentality owned by a pistillate recovered dormant astatine Arches National Park volition assistance reply questions astir erstwhile the pistillate died and how. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)

Estimated work time: 1-2 minutes

MOAB — Detectives investigating the assemblage of a pistillate recovered dormant astatine Arches National Park are hoping information from the woman's Garmin GPS instrumentality volition assistance them find erstwhile she died and how.

The assemblage of Ekaterina Yaroslavna Ksenjek, 33, of Arlington, Virginia, was discovered Oct. 1 successful the Devils Garden Area of Arches National Park. At the clip of her discovery, a origin of decease could not beryllium determined.

Investigators accidental Ksenjek's decease was primitively considered suspicious due to the fact that she was recovered wearing lone 1 footwear and 1 sock and she was recovered nether a ample boulder successful a distant area.

Ksenjek's assemblage was "in an precocious authorities of decomposition" erstwhile it was found. Her backpack with the remainder of her covering and different idiosyncratic items was recovered a abbreviated region away, according to a hunt warrant affidavit.

An autopsy by the Utah State Medical Examiner's Office recovered that Ksenjek suffered aggregate breached ribs and a dislocated shoulder. However, "there were nary overseas objects recovered successful the assemblage and determination were nary outer injuries that could beryllium said to person instantly caused the decease of Ekaterina," the warrant states.

Because of that, Grand County sheriff's investigators judge the pistillate whitethorn person been injured successful a autumn and past succumbed to the effects of hypothermia, which see removing covering and "burrowing behavior," according to the affidavit.

Investigators anticipation that Ksenjek's Garmin instrumentality that was recovered astatine the country tin assistance find her clip of death.

"If the clip tin beryllium determined via the accusation from the ticker oregon account, it tin either corroborate oregon quality the existent thought of an accidental autumn followed by hypothermia," constabulary wrote successful the affidavit.

Most caller Police & Courts stories

Pat Reavy is simply a longtime constabulary and courts reporter. He joined the KSL.com squad successful 2021, aft galore years of reporting astatine the Deseret News and KSL NewsRadio earlier that.