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MOAB — It appears a young man has helped solve a 5-year-old mystery in southeastern Utah.
In November 2010, Utah State park ranger Brody Young was shot nine times while patrolling near the Poison Spider Mesa Trail area just south of Moab. Young survived and told emergency responders he shot back, hitting his attacker.
The shooter — later identified as Lance Lee Arellano — got away in his vehicle, which was found 8 miles southwest of the crime scene. Despite a massive manhunt, Arellano was never found.
That was until Thursday, when Caleb Shumway went looking.
The mystery of Arellano's whereabouts had always intrigued the young college student. So, while at home on Christmas break, he decided to try and solve it.
Shumway's father was part of the original search for Arellano, but the near impossible terrain hampered the efforts of search crews.
"It's rugged and (there's) lots of sandstone," Shumway told KSL News on Saturday. "Lots of water runs through there, so there's lots of deep caves."
After collecting information from his father, Shumway and his little brother set out for an area known as Tangri-La Ranch, roughly 18 miles southwest of Moab, and started looking for Arellano. On day two of the search they found something.
"I noticed, tucked up in the inside of this cave, just under a slanted rock, was a bag — and it wasn't supposed to be there, wasn't natural," Shumway said. "So I reached over, and as I pulled on it I noticed it was really heavy. And as I was pulling on it, it ripped open and revealed one pistol. I saw one .44-caliber magazine, a pair of binoculars and a bag."
The brothers left and got in touch with the Grand County Sheriff's Office. The next day, Christmas Eve, they took law enforcement officers back to the area.
As investigators took pictures of the evidence, Shumway noticed another small cave and went in. "And as I slipped my upper body through it, I looked down and there was the remains of Arellano — his ribs and his skeleton," Shumway said.
The remains were sent to the state medical examiner for identification. There was a $30,000 reward offered for locating Arellano, and if positive identification is made that money will go to Shumway.
On Christmas Day, Shumway met Young, who thanked him for not giving up. "They can finally be at peace and sleep and know they're safe," Shumway said of Young's family.
KSL News also got in touch with the former park ranger and asked how he felt about Shumway's find. Young said his thoughts were actually with Arellano's family because they received word of the discovery on Christmas Eve.
Contributing: Jordan Ormond
