Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SOUTH SALT LAKE — Investigators submitted charges against two suspects to the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office in May 2013 – nearly two years before those charges were formally filed – after discovering an elderly man was kept inside his home and given death threats for several months, a South Salt Lake police spokesman said Thursday.
Felony kidnapping and exploitation charges were filed Wednesday in 3rd District Court against Aaron Gibbs and Loran Sant, alleging they bullied the 70-year-old man into giving up hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of property and eventually moving and onto the street for fear of being killed.
South Salt Lake police Sgt. Gary Keller said police were alerted to the case by a relative of the victim in November 2012 and submitted charges for review six months later. Detectives frequently communicated with prosecuting attorneys about the case against Gibbs and Sant since that time, Keller said.
Keller said it was difficult for detectives to weigh the victim's claims with that of the suspects, which may have lengthened the investigation itself.
"There was he said/she said about (Gibbs and Sant) taking the victim's (property) in lieu of payment" for purportedly acting as live-in personal assistants.
As we were trying to investigate these people ... they just basically disappeared.
–Sgt. Gary Keller, South Salt Lake Police
However, Keller said he wasn't told of an official reason for the lengthy wait once charges were recommended and is even now unsure of what caused the delay.
Keller said it "must have been frustrating" for detectives that the case went unfiled for as long as it did. But he endorsed the kidnapping and exploitation counts as "fantastic charges" that fit the crime.
The Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office could not be reached Thursday for comment.
Arrest warrants for both suspects were issued this week.
"As we were trying to investigate these people ... they just basically disappeared," Keller said.
Gibbs, homeless at the time, allegedly convinced the victim — who suffers from Parkinson's Disease — to take him in during mid-2012.
Gibbs' reportedly began to exert control over the elderly man by moving three of his friends — including Sant — into the home against the victim's will. Gibbs allegedly withheld food from the man and locked him in his room multiple times.
Keller said it's "hard to make reasoning why" the man didn't contact police after he escaped. Fear and embarassment likely prevented the man from getting help despite his believing his life was in danger, according to Keller.
"It’s tough to pinpoint," Keller said.
The victim and his son, who also lived in South Salt Lake at the time, infrequently contacted each other.
"I don’t know how or why but they obviously became estranged in some way," Keller said.
Family members later moved the man to a retirement home out of state. The man is mentally competent despite his health problems, Keller said. Email: blockhart@deseretnews.com Twitter: @benlockhartnews
