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SALT LAKE CITY — The family of a Salt Lake man who was killed and his body found in the Jordan River more than a year ago is hoping that surveillance video from a burglary case in Draper will provide clues into their loved one's death.
On June 7, 2021, Joseph Salas, 49, and his wife of 24 years, Heather Ramos, were walking along North Temple near 1200 West. Salas told his wife he was going to take a trail along the Jordan River to walk to his sister's house. The two said goodbye and Ramos got on a TRAX train.
"The last thing that Heather saw was the backside of him wearing a big red backpack. When they found his body, there was no backpack," said Jason Jensen, a private investigator who has been working with the family to figure out what happened to Salas.
Two days later, on June 9, 2021, Salas' body was found in the Jordan River, not far from where his wife last saw him. Salt Lake police have said his death was the result of a homicide, but no arrests have been arrested in the investigation.
According to Jensen, Salas was stabbed. But family members don't know if he was killed shortly after saying goodbye to Ramos or if he was killed later and his body dumped in the river.
About four months after his death, sometime between Oct. 6 and Oct. 12, 2021, someone used one of Salas' credit cards to reserve a room at the Homewood Suites by Hilton in Draper, 473 W. 13490 South. A couple who used the reservation "subsequently ransacked the room, stealing everything that they could, including the flat screen TV mounted on the wall," according to Jensen.
When Draper police went looking for Salas to question him about the burglary, they learned that he had been the victim of a homicide four months earlier.
As Eric Peterson, a journalist for the Utah Investigative Journalism Project, began looking into Salas' case, he learned of the Draper connection and subsequently learned of the existence of surveillance video of the couple who stole items from the hotel.
On Tuesday, Peterson, along with Jensen, Ramos and members of Salas' family, released two short video clips in hopes that someone will recognize the couple. By identifying the couple in the burglary, Jensen hopes police can track those people down and question them about how they ended up with Salas' credit card.
"They might be responsible or have ties to who is responsible for Joe's death," he said.
The videos show a man and woman walking down the stairwell of the hotel carrying a large object and loading it into a 1990s or early 2000s dark green Dodge Durango.
Draper police say their burglary case has not been solved as of Tuesday, and at this point the evidence from that investigation has been turned over to Salt Lake police to assist with their homicide investigation.
Jensen said the family found out about the existence of the video a year ago, but Salt Lake police weren't willing to publicly release it.
"This is a murder. This isn't just a theft, this is a murder. This should come out," he said. "It's unfortunate we're here a year later. We should have had this press conference a year ago."
Jensen fears the memories of potential witnesses will have faded over the past year.
Salas' family concurs, and on Tuesday used words such as "upset" and "disappointed" to describe how they feel about police not releasing the video to the public.
"We just want justice. We want some answers," said Roman Gallegos, a close friend of Salas, while also adding that he wants police to "keep doing your job. Don't give up."
"I'm sure they have a lot of work to do and our family isn't the only family. But how many other families are they not paying attention to their needs?" Ramos asked.
Salt Lake City police released a statement on Tuesday regarding the video, acknowledging that detectives have reviewed it.
"The investigation is open and ongoing and detectives continue to do follow-up on the case to help ensure we bring forward answers and ultimately justice. As this is still an open and active investigation, we cannot discuss the specific details of the investigation," police stated, while adding that information and evidence collected during investigations is not always publicly released. "It is not always appropriate to release evidence or information as doing so could actually harm an investigation."
Salas and his wife had fallen on hard times in the months leading up to his death and they were homeless at the time. But family members say he still made time for his grandchildren and had dreams of rebounding and owning a food truck.
"Joey had a family. They think he didn't have anybody that cared. He has a big family. We want to know what happened," said Carmen Granados, Salas' sister.
Granados believes someone had to have seen something.
"There's too many people on this river to not see anything," she said. "Joey didn't have any enemies. Joey came from a very good family. He had all of us. We don't understand what happened."
Anyone with information on Salas' death is asked to call Salt Lake police at 801-799-3000 or call Jensen at 801-759-2248.
"If you can, please help our family get some kind of peace and answers. We just need answers," Ramos pleaded.
