After bodies found in mine, man arrested in teen deaths

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — At least one person is under arrest in the deaths of a missing teenage couple whose bodies were found in an abandoned Utah mine.

Utah County Sheriff’s officials said Thursday that 41-year-old Jerrod W. Baum is being held on suspicion of aggravated murder, kidnapping, abuse of a dead body and other charges.

Undersheriff Darin Durfey tells KSL Newsradio that additional arrests have been made, though he didn’t immediately give details.

No attorney or working phone number was immediately available for Baum.

The arrest comes months after 18-year-old Riley Powell and 17-year-old Breezy Otteson reportedly disappeared on their way home to Eureka, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) south of Salt Lake City.

Powell’s Jeep was found in mid-January, apparently dumped at a reservoir near Eureka under what police called suspicious circumstances.