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There has been a break in the murder of a woman at Jordanelle Reservoir. This afternoon, two suspects are in jail.
The woman was found shot and barely clinging to life at the visitor's center at Jordanelle State Park the day after Christmas. We now know the woman was 21-year-old Ashley Sparks of American Fork. Police were unsure of her identity until a tip came in last night.
"Because of some caller tips who helped us to identify the victim, that led us to the suspects, and then we were able to gather that they were acquainted in some way," explained Deena Loyola, spokeswoman for Utah State Parks.
Those two suspects are 22-year-old Joshua Binkerd and 19-year-old Christopher Alvey. They are both in the Salt Lake County Jail facing charges of aggravated murder in Spark's death.
"From what we understand, the victim and the suspects know each other, but we don't know the nature of their relationship," Loyola said.
After police identified the suspects, several law enforcement agencies were involved in the arrest of Binkerd and Alvey last night.
"Utah State Park law enforcement was joined by Salt Lake City Police Department Detective Division, who apprehended and arrested the two men. They were arrested separately in the Salt Lake Valley," Loyola said.
Authorities today confirmed that detectives have recovered shell casings from where the woman was found, clearing up questions if she had been dumped there and left for dead.
A family friend of the victim posted this comment this afternoon on KSL.com: "Ashley was a young mom, a beautiful person, who got mixed up with the wrong people at the wrong time of her life. Our family will never forget you. You really were loved!"
We searched court records and found both suspects have criminal histories and both have been arrested in the past few months.
Investigators are expected to release more information about the murder and what the motive may have been sometime tomorrow.
E-mail: spenrod@ksl.com
