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WEST VALLEY CITY — The family of Elizabeth Salgado had held on to the hope that a body found in Utah County in May was not hers. After meeting with forensic scientists, they now know.
“It’s very hard because we had the hope to find her alive,” said Rosemberg Salgado, Elizabeth’s uncle.
The Salgados met with a forensics team at the Utah Department of Public Safety’s Medical Examiner’s office Thursday morning in West Valley City.
Although they could not go into the details of exactly what they were shown as evidence, it was enough to take away any doubt.
“We were hoping they were wrong. Saying 'no it wasn’t her,' but they said they are 100 percent,” said Rosemberg Salgado. “It’s very hard to accept that my niece is gone.”
Elizabeth Salgado disappeared in 2015 shortly after moving to Provo.
The family organized several searches of the area looking for her.
Rosemberg Salgado, who has been the family spokesperson since the first day, also hired a private investigator to help the family.
Elizabeth’s body was found off the road in Hobble Creek Canyon.
Her mother, father, and siblings from Mexico arrived in Utah this week, as did her uncles from California, hoping to get answers.
“We’re still having more investigations, like, how did she die? When did she die? Things like that,” said Rosemberg Salgado. “They’re still trying to find out the cause of death, how she died.”
Officials from the Utah County Sheriff’s Office said the case was still being investigated.
Lots of tips have come in since her body was found, but no arrests have been made.
After meeting with forensic investigators, the family, who has been escorted by the Mexican Consul while in Utah, visited a funeral home in Draper.
They wanted to make plans to bring her back to Mexico once investigators are able to release her remains.
On Wednesday afternoon, the family visited the spot in Hobble Creek Canyon where Elizabeth was found.
Timeline: The 3-year search for Elizabeth Salgado
Three years ago, 26-year-old Elizabeth Salgado went missing in broad daylight as she walked home from school in Provo. On Friday, a man found her skeletal remains on the side of the road in Hobble Creek Canyon.Investigators have not determined what exactly happened to her, or who may have been involved, but they have called her disappearance a homicide investigation.
It’s not an answer they’ll ever like, or understand, but it’s one they feel they have to have.
The family has asked anyone with information to contact police investigators.
