Sheriff tries to ease community concerns after double homicide near Moab
Aug 24, 2021, 7:07 PM | Updated: Jul 14, 2023, 3:06 pm
GRAND COUNTY, Utah — Investigators in Grand County are still looking for someone who they said shot and killed two women camping in the La Sal Mountains.
Sheriff Steven White tried to reassure people Tuesday, saying they’re focused on keeping the community safe.
White said there’s been growing fear and rumors spreading after two more recent deaths. They wanted to assure people that those additional deaths were not homicides, adding that they are not connected.
In the meantime, a community around Moab is still on edge, eagerly hoping investigators will make an arrest soon as they mourn the loss of a couple who got married just a few months ago.
“Whoever did this does not deserve to breathe the same air as the rest of us,” said Cindy Sue Hunter.
Hunter said she can’t help but feel concerned, knowing the killer is still free.
She’s the one who found the bodies of 24-year-old Kylen Schulte and 38-year-old Crystal Turner after she said she felt she was being urged to go out and look.
“What could I do? What could I possibly do different than the police that know how to do this kind of stuff? And I just finally lost the argument with myself and said, ‘I’m going,'” said Hunter.
Hunter said Kylen, or Ky, and her father were regular customers at her art supplies shop.
She searched several areas, until she felt the voices of Ky and her wife Crystal urging her to head toward a particular area, where she found their campsite.
She called deputies, and then, “that’s when I saw Ky’s body and um, so at that point, there’s a lot of screaming and crying.”
Today, she’s not sure if she’ll ever be able to go back into those mountains, and she said those two young women are greatly missed.
“Just magical. They just, I didn’t know Crystal that well, but they just were happy together,” said Hunter.
Sheriff White, in the meantime, said safety is a top priority. He’s added extra patrols around the La Sal Mountains, including flyovers by a helicopter.
If anyone has information that might help with the investigation, they’re asked to call the Grand County Sheriff’s Office.
