01x06 - Needles in a Mineshaft

[bunniefuu]

Your kid comes up missing,
you're scared, you're worried.

Without any information

as to where Riley
and Breezy went,

it really was a needle
in a haystack.

[Jeff] This case took a toll.

I mean, it,
it consumed our lives.

Whoever did this
believed that he had done
such a good job,

that the police would never,
ever discover him.

This person had a plan
to get rid of the bodies.

I mean, it was very heinous
and very evil.

And that was
incredibly frustrating to us.

Why would someone do that
to two teenagers?

It was a whirlwind of fear,

and it unleashed something
we never even fathomed.

[Steven] Riley Powell
and Breezy Otteson

were reported missing
on January 3rd of 2018.

And they were reported missing

by Breezy's
and Riley's families.

The information
that the family relayed to,
uh, law enforcement

was that Riley and Breezy
were in a relationship.

And that on December 29th
of 2017,

Riley and Breezy were at, uh,
Breezy's family house
in Tooele County,

and they had left
later that night.

They'd take
about a 45-minute drive
from Eureka

on a very desolate highway
in Riley's Jeep

to return home to Eureka, uh,
later that night.

But from what their families
had indicated,

they never returned home.

[Amanda] Breezy and Riley
went to school together.

And it was through that summer

that Breezy and Riley
had started to date.

Riley had purchased
a ring for Breezy

with the intent to propose
to Breezy.

I knew that
they were very young,

but I supported them in,
in whatever they needed

to feel that completeness

and have some stability
in their life.

[Bill] Breezy kinda mellowed
Riley out

and brought him around
to being a better person.

And we haven't heard from 'em.

And, uh, it's just...

It wasn't, wasn't them.

So, we automatically knew
something was wrong.

[Jeff] We're thinking,
"You've got two young kids

that are traveling along
this long desolate highway,

trying to get back home
in the middle of winter."

It's cold, it's icy,

and we're wondering
if there's a possibility

that they may have slidden
off the road,

they may have had
car troubles.

[Talia]
Eureka is a really small town.

The population
is less than 1000 people,

and it's about an hour
outside of Salt Lake City.

It is kind of a ghost town.

[Steven]
Eureka is kinda nestled in
in between these mountains.

Uh, it's kind of
in a canyon there.

It was an old mining town.

There are hills,
there are trees,

There are several offshoots,

uh, roads that go
in all different directions.

And without any information

as to where Riley
and Breezy went,

it really was a needle
in a haystack for us.

[Jeff] We don't know
if they're gonna be able
to survive.

You know, a night or two,
do they have rations?

Do they have food?
Do they have water?

So, our sense of urgency
was high.

[Steven] Time was against us.

So, we really felt
the pressure on this one.

We conducted
searches throughout, uh,
these different trails

and in the mountains,

utilized search and rescue
to look for these kids.

We were just kinda taken aback

by the vastness
of how big this was gonna be.

And it ultimately, uh,
didn't turn up anything.

So, Riley and Breezy's,
um, photos

and photos of the Jeep, uh,
were put out to the media.

Breezy's family made
a social media account

for the missing kids
so that people could be aware.

[Talia] Both Riley and Breezy
were active on Facebook.

So, cops subpoenaed
the records

for all of their
social media accounts

wondering if just maybe,

it might help find
where they were.

[Steven] But the process
of obtaining information
from Facebook

is not something
that occurs overnight.

It actually takes
several months.

And so,
we have to press forward
and we have to move on.

[Amanda] There are no words
to describe the,

the despair, the,
the helplessness,

in not knowing if the teens
had gone off the road

and they were
stranded somewhere,

and it is the middle
of winter.

The, the helplessness

in not being able
to just find them,

help them, bring them home.

All kinds of things
were going through our mind
at the, at the time.

We, we just, we weren't sure.

[Amanda] Breezy and Riley's
relationship had its ups
and downs.

Breezy had recently broke up
with a long term boyfriend

And although the relationship
was over,

there was a lot of insecurity
between both Breezy and Riley.

[Jeff] We were scared that,
you know,

there may have been
some kind of a, a fight

or a, you know, altercation
between Riley and Breezy,

where they could've, you know,

just gotten off
the side of the road.

One of 'em could've walked off
or they split up

or something.

Then on January 9th,

uh, we were able
to locate the Jeep

in an area
called Cherry Creek.

It's approximately 15 miles
from Eureka,

out in this vast desert
off the side of the road.

A search and rescue member
went up in a helicopter

searching the area,

and they spotted the,
the Jeep.

But when they found the Jeep

and there was no Breezy
or Riley,

everybody was confused.

Our hope was that
in finding the Jeep,

we would find the kids.

The Jeep was the key.

So, when the Jeep was found

and there was no Breezy
and Riley,

it threw us
for a whole new loop.

Who's to say
if we would find 'em or not?

It, it was a whirlwind of...

unknown

and fear

and it unlocked

and unleashed something
we never even fathomed.

[Talia] Seventeen-year-old
Breezy Otteson

and 18-year-old Riley Powell

had been missing for 10 days

before Riley's Jeep
was found abandoned

at the Cherry Creek Reservoir.

But there was no sign
of Breezy and Riley.

It made no sense

that either one of them
would just abandon
this vehicle.

Investigators wondered
what could've happened.

Why did they disappear?

[Steven] When we looked inside
the Jeep,

we noticed that
all of the belongings, uh,

their clothing, the blankets,
uh, Breezy's overnight bag,

they were all thrown
in the back in the cargo area,

which struck us as odd.

[Jeff] The obvious question
is raised,

is why would you not
take these with you

if you're stuck
and you're trying
to walk somewhere

in this cold weather for help?

[Steven] Walking around
to the back of the Jeep,

we then noticed that
there was a ratchet
tie down strap

that was camo colored.

Uh, it was hanging
in the back left leaf spring

and was broken off.

[Talia] This led
to a lot more questions.

Were they used
to tow the truck by Riley?

Were they used to tow
the truck by someone else?

Who used those straps?

[Jeff] The windows were down

and both tires
on the passenger side
were flat.

We observed slashes
on the tire.

They appeared to be
from either a screwdriver
or a knife.

They appeared
to be intentional.

So, when we put
all this stuff together

with the tires,
the windows down

and the cold weather,

all the clothing,
identification in the back,

and we're thinking that
there could be foul play
involved here.

[Talia]
After reviewing the Jeep
and the surrounding area,

it was clear to investigators

that whatever happened
to Riley and Breezy,

whoever did it believed that
they had done such a good job

to hide the vehicle,

that they left things behind

believing the police
would never, ever discover it.

[Bill]
When we found the Jeep
and they weren't there, and...

We had put a reward
out for 'em,

you know, $5000 reward.

And, uh, we posted the posters
all around town.

[Amanda] I was numb,

but I didn't wanna break down.

I knew they...

We just needed
to bring them home.

[Steven] Then,
within a few days,

one of the neighbors
in the community
came forward.

She stated that she saw
a man named Lee Shepherd

towing Riley's blue Jeep

right around the time
of New Year's.

Right in the middle

when Riley and Breezy
were reported missing.

Interestingly,
Lee Shepherd was the boyfriend

of Riley's biological mother,
Mistie.

And he lived on the property
that Mistie owned.

[Bill] When Riley
wasn't quite one,

he was taken away by the state

because his biological,
you know,

mother and father
were druggies.

And so they were
gonna be adopted out,

so, I more or less
took him over.

And he had lived with us.

[Talia]
Riley and his mom, Mistie,

they had
a complicated relationship.

Riley had been taken from her.

But being that
they were in a small town

and it's his mom,

they did have a relationship,

which really didn't make
the rest of his family
very happy.

They felt that perhaps
she was a bad influence
on Riley.

[Bill] I'd definitely have her
out of his life.

She definitely
wasn't a role model.

[Talia] So, there were
a lot of questions.

Was there a family dispute
we didn't know about?

Was there
some sort of argument
that took place?

Why would Lee Shepherd be seen
towing his vehicle?

[Jeff] We asked Lee and Mistie

to come down
to the Tooele County
Sheriff's office and,

and speak with us,

and if they could help us
get any information

on finding Riley and Breezy.

Mistie said that
she last saw Riley on the day
he went missing.

[Jeff] Mistie said
there had been some sort
of an argument with, uh,

Lee and Riley.

There had been
some words exchanged
that got kinda heated.

Mistie's claiming
that Riley owes Lee
some money.

That tells us, you know,
there is a possibility
of motive here.

[Talia] So, law enforcement
had the search warrant issued.

And that search warrant
was ex*cuted

on the property
where Mistie and Lee lived.

[Steven] When we were on Lee's
and Mistie's property,

we found a ratchet
tie down strap

that was camo colored,

that was similar
to the one that was found
on Riley's Jeep.

[Talia]
After finding those straps,
police wondered...

would this be the evidence
they needed

to solve the case
and find Breezy And Riley?

Did Lee and Mistie
m*rder Breezy and Riley?

If so, where are the bodies?

[door unlocks]

[door creaks open]

[Jeff] Riley and Breezy
were still missing.

And on January 16th, 2018,

we ex*cuted a search warrant

on Riley's
biological mother's house

and her boyfriend,
Lee Shepherd.

We found tie down straps

matching those found attached
to Riley's Jeep.

That, along with the reports
of a possible argument
or debt,

and we're thinking
we need to dig
into Lee further

to see if maybe there was
some involvement.

Lee did state that
he towed a vehicle

on the day
that Riley went missing.

However, it was a Nissan,
and it had a shell on it.

It was his girlfriend,
Mistie's sister's vehicle.

And it did resemble
the vehicle that Riley drove.

However,
it wasn't Riley's vehicle
that he was towing.

And he says he got
a ratchet tie down strap

that was camo colored

In the same store
'cause Riley.

And that's why
they were similar

to the ones that were found
on Riley's Jeep.

[Talia] In addition,
Lee said he knew nothing

about Breezy
and Riley's disappearance.

He said,
in no way, shape or form
was he involved

in anything that had to do
with the missing teens.

[Steven] So,
after the search warrant

and speaking with Lee
and Mistie,

we determined that, um,

there just wasn't
enough evidence to prove

that Lee and Mistie
were involved

in the disappearance
of these kids.

So, we had to move on and, um,
look for more, more clues.

[Talia] At this point,
the police are basically
at zero.

They have no body, no suspect,

no real solid evidence
of a crime that happened.

They are literally
starting over.

[Jeff] This case
definitely took a toll,
I think, on all of us.

I mean, it,
it consumed our lives

to where
that's all we thought about

[Steven]
I have spent thousands
of hours on this case.

It really made me question,
you know,

whether I wanted to...

continue a career
in investigations,

because it took
so much out of me.

[Jeff] Because it's been
a couple of weeks,

and we're thinking,
"Okay, that's a long time.

Maybe they aren't alive."

And we thought,

whoever did this really,
really went to great lengths

to hide the bodies
and not get caught.

[Talia] Eventually,
after a few weeks,

investigators got the results
of the subpoena

for the
social media information
for Riley and Breezy.

And when they reviewed it,

it showed that the
last message Riley had sent

was to a 34-year-old woman
named Morgan Henderson.

We learned that
on December 29th,

Morgan reached out to Riley.

She said, "Hey, I'm here alone
at my house in Mammoth.

Uh, you can come by
if you want."

This was the last conversation
that Riley had with anyone

as far as we knew.

I never knew
who Morgan was at all.

No idea.

You can have older friends,
I guess,

but that was the last person
that they had talked to,

so that raises
some flags there

that, you know,
something wasn't quite right.

We were familiar with Morgan

and her boyfriend,
Jerrod Baum,

who she lived with.

[Steven]
Morgan had a checker past.

She had been in and out
of jail a couple times,

and she was a known drug user.

We also knew Jerrod Baum.

He had been in jail
longer than he had been free,

uh, in his lifetime.

He is a drug user.

We know that he likes weapons.

But we didn't really know
what the relationship was

between Morgan and Riley,

and so we felt that we needed
to go to Morgan's house

and ask her more questions
as to what happened.

You know, did Riley show up?

[Jeff] So I remember
going to the house.

Jerrod and Morgan are outside.

We're talking back and forth.

Both of them stated, "No,
we've never talked

to Riley and Breezy,
never met 'em."

But Morgan was always looking
to Jerrod before she answered.

She would look up at him,
then look back at us,

and then look back at Jerrod,

almost as if she was,
"Is that the right answer

you want me to give?"

But when we confronted them
with a Facebook conversation,

she begins to say,
"Yeah, I spoke to him,

but he never arrived.
He never got here,

um, and I don't know
where he went since."

That was a big red flag
for the police.

They didn't know
what was true.

We ultimately decided
that we didn't have
enough evidence

to arrest them
or to even bring them

into the police department,

and so we let them go.

The police were
running out of theories,

and they were desperate
for some sort of lead

that could be
a break in the case.

So they also looked into

Breezy and Riley's
financial background,

reviewing bank statements,

basically looking
to find any clues

to turn their focus
a different direction.

Several months
into this investigation,

we found that
the last transaction

that Riley had on his account

was purchasing fuel
from a gas station in Tooele.

We went to that gas station,

and we found
surveillance video.

[Talia] The footage showed
Riley pumping gas,

going in, paying for it.

What was interesting was
that there was no Breezy.

And when Riley
left the gas station,

instead of heading
towards Eureka,

which is where
Breezy and Riley

had said
they were going to go,

he headed
the opposite direction.

[Jeff] Where's Breezy?

We thought,
was there some kind of a fight

or an altercation
between Riley and Breezy?

Could Riley be involved
in hurting Breezy?

In reviewing the CCTV,

detectives saw that
Riley left the gas station.

Instead of heading
towards Eureka,

he headed towards Mammoth,
where Morgan Henderson lived.

The last person
Riley ever sent messages
to in social media

before the teens disappeared.

And there was no Breezy
in the CCTV footage.

Where could she be?

[Jeff]
The good thing about
getting that surveillance

was it gave us
somewhat of a time frame

of when they were last seen

the night Riley and Breezy
went missing.

But we weren't able to prove
exactly where Riley was going.

Investigators wondered,
what does this mean?

Did Riley actually go
to Morgan's?

Were police
maybe on the right track

with their suspicions
of Morgan?

And at this point,
everybody really wanted
to understand

what the relationship was
between Morgan and Riley.

We had learned that Riley
had met Morgan that summer

before Breezy and Riley
had started to date.

And Riley and Morgan
started hanging out

and had a relationship.

The dynamic of their
relationship was really odd.

Considering if she was
in her 30s, he was a teenager.

At this point,
does that mean Morgan has

something to do
with their disappearance?

Did Morgan and Riley
do something to Breezy?

[indistinct radio chatter]

[Jeff]
Then on March 25th, 2018,

a traffic stop was conducted
on Morgan.

Police found some weapons
in the car she was driving

that included some knives.

And so they were able
to take Morrigan into custody.

We felt like this was
our opportunity to be able

to get more information
out of Morgan.

So when Morgan
was being interviewed again

by investigators,

uh, she sticks
to the same story initially.

But she eventually starts
to break down a little bit.

Morgan revealed a lot
of information to us about

her relationship with
her boyfriend, Jerrod Baum.

She said Jerrod pretty much

controlled everything
in her life.

He controlled her time,
uh, all her money.

She wasn't allowed
to have friends,

uh, that he didn't approve of.

Nobody was allowed
to come to the house

under any circumstance.

We also learned that
during the time that

Jerrod was in jail,

Jerrod found out Morgan had
a relationship with Riley.

That did not sit well
with Jerrod.

[Talia] As Morgan's rapport
developed with the police,

she began opening up
more and more.

And she admitted that she had
lied to the police

when she said
that Breezy and Riley
hadn't come to her house.

They did go to her house.

And while they were there,

Morgan said that
Jerrod came home

and he flew
into a fit of rage.

He tied up
Breezy and Riley's hands,

and he put them in a vehicle,
and he drove away.

And Morgan says
that's the last time

she saw Breezy and Riley.

According to Morgan,
that's all she knows.

She doesn't know
if they're alive,
if they're dead.

But we knew that
we were really close

to finding these kids,

and we knew that Morgan
was the key to find them.

So we had Morgan
in my patrol vehicle,

and as we're going through,
we're talking to her about,

you know, what do you know,

where, you know,
do you know where they are?

You say Riley was
a friend of yours.

Let's try and get him home.

So I noticed as we got near

what's called the Tintic
Standard Number Two Mine,

and as we drove past there,

Morgan's demeanor
changed greatly.

She became very,
very emotional.

She instantly started crying,
um, visibly shaking.

And to me,
I'm kind of keying up on that,

like, this is where something
might have happened.

This is something
that she's telling me

without telling me that,
you know, something's here.

This change in her behavior

was a big red flag
for the police.

They had to find out
what it was about that area

that was getting Morgan
so worked up.

On March 27th, 2018,
we conducted a search

of the area around the
Tintic Standard Mine
Number Two.

That whole area is just
full of different mine shafts,

but the Tintic Standard
Number Two Mine

is not your typical,
you know, hole in the ground.

It's a massive hole.
It's about 30 feet across,

about 112 feet deep.

The whole mining system
is about 1,800 feet deep.

We brought in a truck that had
a remote camera on it

that was able to, uh, be
dropped down into the mine.

And it goes down
about 110 feet.

So as we're trying
to see anything we can

in the bottom of this,
and we're just like, okay,
nothing's here, now what?

And we're looking, and we're
just kind of deflated,

you know, and we're just
looking as hard as we can.

And then...

We just freeze.

It's a shock. We're like,
"Oh, my gosh,

what do we do from here?

[Steven]
We are searching the Tintic
Standard Number Two Mine.

And we maneuvered
the camera around

the bottom of the mine shaft

based upon Morgan's
odd behavior in the car.

I was getting ready to leave

when one of the guys go,
"I got a body."

It's just, like, plain as day.
It appears to be a male.

You could definitely see
the clothing matched

what Riley was reported to be
last seen wearing.

And so it was
an emotional moment

to be able to finally have
that much closure.

But then at the same time,
we're like,

"We still got to find Breezy.
Where's Breezy?"

So then we decide to try
and swing that camera

back and forth on this line

to look down
into these other shafts,

and we can see another body.

And it appears to be female

wearing this outfit

that was reported to be
what Breezy was last wearing.

And so I don't know quite
how to describe that emotion

or what that felt like,
but it was...

It was amazing.

The whole time
we were thinking...

[man] I'm moving again.

[Steven]
...this is definitely m*rder.

[Amanda]
We were fortunate enough
to be able to watch them

bring the bodies up
as we stood there.

I was sick to my stomach.

I was heartbroken.
I was empty.

There aren't words that
can describe that feeling.

After you find out
what actually happened,

the sadness
and everything like that,

it's just wondering

why someone would do that
to two teenagers.

[Steven]
Now that we found them,

we need to know who did this
and why this happened.

So we had two investigators
that were with Morgan.

The investigators
let her know that,

"Hey, we found them.

It's time to come clean.

We know you know
what happened.

It's time for you
to tell us the truth."

[Jeff]
Finally, she had agreed
to tell us what had happened,

basically reenact a scene.

She describes the night that
Riley and Breezy were there.

They came to the house.

Um, they left,

she believed,
before Jerrod had came home.

And then the next thing
she knows,

Jerrod's barging
in the door, saying,

"I told you
not to have people here.

How come you lied to me?"

We know that
Jerrod was very controlling

and did not allow Morgan
to have outside friends.

So for Jerrod to find out that
Riley and Breezy were there

did not sit well with Jerrod.

He says, "Get ready.
You're coming with me."

So she walks out,
finds Riley and Breezy

duct taped on their mouths,

duct taped
around their wrists,

duct taped around their feet.

And they're in the very back
of the jeep.

And Jerrod instructs her,
you know, "Get in."

Morgan says they went
to the Tintic Mining Shaft.

There the teens were
forced out of the vehicle.

[Steven]
Jerrod begins to hit Riley.

And he stabs Riley
in the chest three times.

And at that point,

Riley is silent.

And Morgan knew
at that point he was dead.

Then he threw him
in the mine shaft.

Morgan says Breezy's
just sitting there terrified.

But Jerrod's behind Breezy

and kind of
puts his arm around her

and he says,
"It's okay, darling."

And then he just
slits her throat and...

lets her die right there.

After he did that,
he threw her into the pit too.

We strongly believed
Morgan's story,

so we wanted
to speak to Jerrod.

During that time,
Jerrod was in jail
on different charges.

So we put him in this room.

Jerrod denies any involvement,
uh, in the murders.

But based upon everything
that Morgan had told us,

we felt that there was
enough probable cause

to charge Jerrod
with these murders.

On August 15th, 2022,

Jerrod was sentenced
to life in prison

without the possibility
of parole.

Morgan was charged
with obstruction of justice.

She struck a plea deal
with prosecutors

and spent three years in jail.

And as much as
I don't like to admit it,
Jerrod was clever.

What's really interesting
about this

is the bodies were found
on a ledge.

Had they not been
on this ledge

and landed at the bottom
of the mine shaft,

they might not have
ever been discovered.

I also do feel
that because of Morgan

and her willingness to assist
in the investigation,

that brought justice
to these families.

[Bill] In my mind,
there's no such thing
as a closure.

Jerrod's still living,
still breathing.

There'll never be closure
as long as he's alive.

And I'm pretty sure
he'll make it longer
than I do, so.

Maybe there'll be closure
when I run into Riley.

I miss him.

And I talk to him
about every day.

[Amanda] I miss Breezy.
I miss her personality.

And I wouldn't give anything
to be able to just

tell her that she's loved

and that she's touched
so many lives,

more than
she can ever imagine.