Search warrant reveals neighbors discovered bodies of Haight family
Jan 24, 2023, 2:24 PM | Updated: 4:09 pm
ENOCH, UT - JANUARY 05: A police crime scene trailer sits outside the home of Michael Haight on January 5, 2023 in Enoch, Utah. Haight, who was 42, is accused of killing his wife, mother-in-law and his five kids that range in ages from 17 to 4 years old with a gun. The police say there are no additional suspects and the community is not in further danger. (Photo by George Frey/Getty Images)
(Photo by George Frey/Getty Images)
ENOCH, Utah — An unsealed search warrant reveals law enforcement were not the first people to discover the Haight family in their home after they were killed.
Eight people, three adults and five children, were found dead of gunshot wounds in a home on Jan. 4, in Enoch, Utah. The individuals were identified as Michael and Tausha Haight, their five children, and Gail Earl, Tausha’s mother. Police believe Michael Haight shot and killed everyone, before dying by suicide.
Initial reports said police responded to the home for a welfare check after receiving separate missing person reports on Tausha Haight and Michael Haight and that’s when the family was originally discovered. However, the search warrant reports, “During the time both of these calls were being looked into, neighbors from the family’s church made entry into the home,” at which point they discovered the deceased bodies and “law enforcement was notified.”
Law enforcement secured a search warrant for any and all firearms, ammunition, clothing, bedding electronic devices including cell phones, blood splatter evidence, carpet fragments, ballistics, and any other evidence relevant to the crime of homicide.
The search warrant was for the house, all cars including the car registered to Gail Earl, and another car registered to Michael Haight that was at his parents’ house in Cedar City, Utah at the time.
The search warrant also states police did remove various electronic devices, jewelry, and a handgun and ammunition from the home as part of their investigation.
In the days and weeks following the tragedy, details emerged about the home life of the Haight family including a report of domestic violence investigated two years before Michael Haight shot and killed his family and himself.
