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SOUTH SALT LAKE — With police confirming that a body found floating in Mill Creek is that of missing American Fork man Paul Heiner Swenson, detectives are now trying to retrace his steps to figure out how he got there and what happened.
On Sunday, a body was spotted floating in Mill Creek near 35 West and 2950 South. It was recovered by police about two blocks downstream. Investigators, with help from the Utah State Medical Examiner's Office, confirmed the body was Swenson, 30, who had been missing since July 27.
Swenson's body was in "poor condition," according to police. An initial autopsy found no obvious signs of trauma or foul play, said South Salt Lake police detective Gary Keller. Toxicology and other lab tests will now be conducted to try and determine a cause of death. It could take weeks to get the results back.
American Fork police, who had been looking for Swenson since his disappearance, will turn the information and evidence they've collected over to South Salt Lake police, who will now take the lead in the investigation. Their goal is to retrace Swenson's steps, try to determine how he got to South Salt Lake and how he died.
American Fork Police Sgt. Josh Christensen said before Sunday his office still did not know why Swenson disappeared or what prompted him to leave his house, but they did not believe he was suicidal.
"We had multiple theories running through our mind, none of which we were able to substantiate. So we still had an open mind on any different direction this could go. We actually all felt pretty confident that we were going to find him alive. It wasn't like we expected this by any means," he said.
Christensen said detectives had not uncovered "any information that we could substantiate in any one direction."
The only thing they could confirm was that he left his house in "some type of altered state of mind," which they weren't sure was due to a mental health issue or something else, he said.
Police said Swenson was acting out of character in the hours before he was last seen and had visited a doctor complaining of heart issues the same morning. One friend, Shiann Chambers, previously said Swenson had been "kind of off" for a few weeks before going missing.
On July 28, Swenson's BMW was found near Parkview Elementary School, 970 S. Emery St. (1170 West). Police considered it suspicious at the time because Swenson had no ties to the area and items belonging to someone else were found in the vehicle, Christensen said. Detectives do not know if Swenson's car was stolen, if he sold it, gave it away or gave someone a ride.
As of Tuesday, Christensen said questions about the car remained unanswered.
Swenson's cellphone was last tracked to the area of 4700 South and 900 East, before it either died or was turned off, according to investigators.
Swenson's family issued a statement on Monday that said, in part, "Thank you for your prayers for Paul and our whole family. We are asking for privacy as our family takes the time to absorb this tragic news and to mourn."
