CRIME
Timeline: Key events in search for Elizabeth Salgado
May 23, 2018, 11:17 PM | Updated: May 24, 2018, 8:59 pm
PROVO, Utah – It’s been a long three years for Elizabeth Salgado’s family, full of searches, speaking with the media, and meeting with police.
The last time anyone saw Elizabeth Salgado was April 16, 2015, at the Nomen Global Language Center in Provo.
The skeletal remains of Elizabeth Salgado were found in Hobble Creek Canyon on Friday, May 18, 2018. The native of Mexico and recently-returned LDS missionary had only been in Provo for three weeks when she disappeared.
Within days, hundreds of volunteers fanned out across the city looking for any sign of her.
By the beginning of May, a $5,000 reward was offered.
On June 12, 2015, family members in Mexico reported a ransom call from a man who claimed to have Elizabeth and demanded money. Detectives in Mexico determined the caller was a known individual who routinely called families in crisis to try and extort money.
Days later, Salgado’s family members posted a plea for her safe return on social media, and billboards were put up along I-15 in Utah County.
In July, investigators said inconsistencies and the outcome of polygraph tests with two of Salgado’s uncles resulted in them being excluded from police updates to the family, though neither were ever named as persons of interest or suspects in her disappearance.
Seven months after she disappeared, the reward for information that led to Salgado had increased to $50,000.
By April 2016, one year since she disappeared, police had no solid leads.
To mark the anniversary, friends and family marched through the streets of Provo, holding signs with Elizabeth’s photo, hoping someone would recognize her and say something.
Her case stayed cold for another year.
Investigators again said they had no leads in April 2017. Her family begged for someone to come forward with information.
A driver told police he found Elizabeth Salgado’s remains after pulling off the roadway in Hobble Creek Canyon.
Two years to the day since her disappearance, the Discovery Channel aired a special on Salgado. But the case stayed cold for another year.
Just last month, three years after she was last seen, Salgado’s family gathered in Utah to once again plea for information.
Then last week, Friday, May 18, a hiker found Salgado’s remains in Hobble Creek Canyon.
Related: EXCLUSIVE: Skeletal remains identified as those of Elizabeth Salgado
Stay with KSL for updates on this developing story.
