PINEDALE, Wyo. — A father and his adult son accused of kidnapping and assaulting a mother and her four teenage daughters were returned to Utah Thursday to begin the legal proceedings against them.

As Centerville police drove Dereck James "DJ" Harrison, 22, of Centerville, and his father, Flint Wayne Harrison, 51, of Pinedale, Wyoming, from the Sublette County Jail in Wyoming to the Davis County Jail in separate vehicles, search crews in Wyoming announced they had located the missing Utah Transit Authority vehicle belonging to slain employee Kay Ricks, 63, of American Fork.

Although police have not definitively linked the killing of Ricks to the Harrisons, Centerville Police Chief Paul Child said Thursday that "it would be an amazing coincidence if they were not."

Ricks' vehicle was spotted during an aerial search of the Half Moon Lake area near Pinedale, Wyoming, about 9:45 a.m. It was in a wooded area off the main road. The Harrisons were each arrested separately Saturday in the nearby Pinedale and Half Moon Lake area. Flint Harrison has a house in Pinedale. Members of the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation served a second search warrant on his house Wednesday.

Investigators from agencies across two states hope the vehicle will provide key evidence regarding the death of Ricks, whose body was found Tuesday about 100 miles away in a rural area off a dirt road in Lincoln County, Wyoming, about 16 miles south of Kemmerer.

"This has been an intense and complicated case involving several agencies. This is an ongoing investigation with much more work to be done," Child said. "It's been a very complicated and strenuous and stressful case for all involved."

"This has been like no case I've ever worked," added Centerville Police Lt. Von Steenblik, the lead investigator on the kidnapping case. "It's been very difficult. We've put in long, long hours."

When asked whether there was any other evidence, either physical or through an interview, that links the father and son to the killing other than the very coincidental timing, Steenblik simply said: "I can't talk about that right now."

The wild series of events began May 10 when the Harrisons allegedly lured a woman and her daughters to a house in Centerville under the pretense of inviting them to a barbecue. Once there, police say the men led the women into the basement where they were prepared with a shotgun, a baseball bat, zip ties and pre-torn strips of duct tape.

The women were tied up and beaten, but managed to break free and escape. The mother was the most seriously injured, being struck with a baseball bat and fists, according to charging documents.

The Harrisons were each charged in 2nd District Court with five counts of aggravated kidnapping, a first-degree felony, and five counts of aggravated assault, a third-degree felony, among other charges.

After alleged kidnapping

After fleeing the Centerville home, police say the duo abandoned their car in Farmington and then got a ride from an acquaintance to the Ramada Inn, 2450 S. State in South Salt Lake, Steenblik said. That was about midnight early on the morning of May 11.

After checking out of the hotel later that day, Steenblik said detectives have confirmed the Harrisons were in the South Salt Lake area until about midday on May 11.

"We do know they were in one other place in South Salt Lake that we haven't discussed (publicly) and won't discuss until we screen those charges," he said.

After that, the next confirmed sighting of the men was when they were arrested in Wyoming on Saturday, May 14. As of Thursday, police have not confirmed how the pair traveled to Half Moon Lake. The Harrisons have declined to talk to authorities. Steenblik said criminal charges could be filed against anyone who may have assisted them.

On the afternoon of May 12, Ricks, a maintenance worker for UTA, went to work and attended a 4 p.m. staff meeting. He was seen shortly after driving his company pickup truck on 600 South just off I-15.

His maintenance vehicle was last spotted in the parking lot at the UTA's Ballpark Station, 180 W. 1300 South, between 5 and 5:10 p.m. on May 12. But officials could not confirm who was driving at that time.

UTA Police Chief Fred Ross said the vehicle was next spotted two hours later in Diamondville, Wyoming, about 7 p.m. by employees of a fast food restaurant. Those employees could not confirm who, or how many people were in the vehicle.

Salt Lake City to Diamondville is approximately 130 miles. The average driving time between the two cities is about two hours.

Authorities weren't notified of the truck sighting, however, until Tuesday. The police chief of Diamondville began searching side roads off U.S. 189 upon learning the news and found Ricks' body a couple of hours later. Although an exact cause of death has not been released, Lincoln County sheriff's officials have called it an "obvious" homicide and are treating the case as if Ricks was killed in Wyoming.

Investigators said when they found the body, it had been there a couple of days.

The Sublette County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday they were investigating a report that Dereck Harrison had been seen at a local liquor store on the night of May 12.

Following an intense manhunt, Flint Harrison surrendered to authorities on the morning of May 14 after first returning home and taking a shower, according to the Sublette County Sheriff's Office. DJ Harrison was spotted later that night near a road block in the Half Moon Lake area. While authorities don't believe he was turning himself in, they said he didn't run when he was spotted.

Investigators were still looking Thursday for the weapons DJ Harrison reportedly had with him while on the run.

Criminal case

The Harrisons were being held in the Davis County Jail Thursday without bail. While the murder investigation in Wyoming is just getting started, Steenblik said the kidnapping and assault investigation in Utah is nearly finished. That helped police make the decision to return the Harrisons to Utah and proceed with the kidnapping case.

"The main reason for that is our case is almost complete. We've had our investigation ready and have already filed charges," he said. "This will give time to the Wyoming authorities to complete their investigation, to get all of the information they need and to compile the physical evidence. They won't have to worry about filing any charges right away and can concentrate on the case."

If either, or both of the Harrisons are charged with murder, they could later be extradited back to Wyoming.

Meanwhile, MaryAnn Harrison, DJ Harrison's mother and Flint Harrison's ex-wife, remained in the Sublette County Jail following her arrest on a parole violation.

Harrison was an inmate at the Utah State Prison from March 18, 2011, to Aug. 5, 2014, for convictions of unlawful possession of a credit card, forgery, drug possession and robbery. She was released on parole in 2014. Prior to that, she was on felony probation from June 17, 2002, to June 29, 2004.

Centerville police say Harrison sent her son a text message after the alleged kidnappings and told him that she would help him hide. Harrison said she was only trying to get her son to stop running and be safe.

After Flint Harrison was arrested, MaryAnn Harrison showed up in Pinedale, Wyoming, after withdrawing $10,000 from a Utah bank, according to Steenblik. She claimed she was going to help with bail. Steenblik, however, said she knew it was a no bail warrant and her actions raised too many red flags.

After checking with her Utah parole officer, Centerville police learned she did not have permission to leave the state and she was arrested for violating the conditions of her parole.

Funeral services

Funeral services for Ricks have been scheduled for Saturday, May 28, at noon at the LDS American Fork West Stake Center, 579 N. 680 West.

"Kay was loved by so many people and is still loved by so many people that the funeral is going to be, while sad, a celebration of a great man who was loved by his family and his community," family spokesman Richard Massey said Thursday near Ricks' home, where UTA employees placed dozens of American flags in his honor.

He said the family was relieved that the truck was found and thankful for the efforts of so many officers investigating the case.

"We are grateful for the sacrifices of those agencies. And I will say sacrifice because we know that it’s their job, but we also understand the sacrifice that they have made to locate Kay and to locate the vehicle. We know their families have suffered as they have been away from loved ones who are searching," he said.

Massey said the family never suspected there was any connection between his disappearance and the two suspected kidnappers who were on the run.

"The Ricks family’s entire hope until Tuesday night was that Kay Ricks would come walking through that door. There was no connection at all made by the Ricks family," he said.

"There is not hate. There is no anger. There is no seeking of revenge. They just want to have happy memories of Kay and not transition those happy memories into hate or anger for anyone that may have been involved in Kay’s passing."

Contributing: McKenzie Romero, Ben Lockhart, Shara Park, Nicole Vowell, Ladd Egan, Andrew Adams

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