JUAB/TOOELE COUNTIES – Search crews from two counties are combing through areas in western Utah, as the look for any signs of two teens who haven’t been heard from in several days.
The last time anyone had heard from either 17-year old Brelynne Otteson or 18-year old Riley Powell was late last month. “Tooele County Sheriff’s Lieutenant Ron Johnson says, “The last phone contact to the boy’s legal guardian was the 29th.”
Juab County investigators say the pair had been living with Powell’s grandfather in Eureka, and told family members they were in Tooele, then going to Spanish Fork before coming home. Johnson says the couple may have gone off-roading, which more people are doing this year because of mild weather. “Recently, because of that, we’ve had some people on side-by-sides to go out and recreate this time of year. Normally, if there is a lot of snow, some of the drifts there are impassable, sometimes,” Johnson says.
Plus, there are concerns about the vehicle the couple was traveling in. Johnson says, “The Jeep has quite a few miles on it, around 280 thousand. it was running OK, but it could have some mechanical issues with that many miles.”
Johnson says the weather was clear enough so planes could fly overhead to search. Plus, temperatures have not been as cold as normal. However, Johnson says there is something different about the area between Tooele and Juab counties. “It’s a strange area for weather, but, we’ve really been lucky because the snow has held out, in this case,” he says.
Officials in Juab County say they have no reason to believe the couple would run away.