Body of 5-year-old Elizabeth Shelley found, uncle charged with her murder
A body discovered by searchers yesterday is believed to be that of five-year-old Elizabeth “Lizzy” Shelley, the little girl from Logan, Utah, who has been missing since May 25. Also yesterday, that little girl’s uncle, 21-year-old Alex Whipple, who has been under arrest since Lizzy went missing, has been charged with her murder.
After that body was found under some trees and covered up with brush less than a block from Lizzy’s home, ABC News reported that “Whipple told his lawyer where he had hidden her, Logan Police Chief Gary Jensen said.” Jensen went on to add that the uncle provided authorities with a map to where he hid her body, “in exchange for prosecutors taking the death penalty off the table.”
After news broke that a body believed to have been Lizzy’s was discovered, a spokesperson for the Shelley family read a statement that had been prepared by Lizzy’s mom:
“There are not words to express the sadness and the heartbreak we feel today. This did not end the way we wanted it to, but in this sadness we are comforted that so many people put forth so much effort to help us find Lizzy.
We would never have expected this outpouring of love and support. It was beautiful.
Lizzy was such a caring and giving little girl. We hope that we can look to her as an example of how to live.” ~ per NBC News
During police interviews with Whipple, court papers stated that the uncle admitted that alcohol makes him “black out” and that “he sometimes does ‘criminal things’ when he blacks out.” Following his arrest, police observed cuts on his hands and blood stains on his pants.
As the police investigation went forward, searchers found “a broken, blood-stained knife that was missing from her mother’s kitchen and a PVC pipe with a partial, bloodied palm print, according to the documents,” as shared by CNN.
Not far away, police found the teal skirt with white lace that Elizabeth had been wearing buried beneath dirt and bark. The skirt was stained with blood. A small concrete block nearby also was stained with blood.
The blood on the suspect’s clothing, his watch and the knife was matched to Elizabeth during a DNA test, the documents said.
The palm print on pipe was matched to the suspect [Whipple].
The uncle has been charged with aggravated murder, child kidnapping, obstruction of justice and desecration of a human body. Jensen said that not finding Lizzy alive was tragic, but “nevertheless is closure and helps us be able to now deal with the investigation and help the family through their grief.”
For more on this tragic tale, see the video accompanying this article.
~ Written by Richard Webster, Ace News Today / Connect with Richard on Facebook and Twitter
Also see:
- Missing girl’s uncle in custody, search continues for 5-year-old Elizabeth Shelley
- Police searching for endangered and missing mom and her two children
- Father of three-year-old girl who died in burning car charged with her murder
- Mom arrested and charged after giving birth, bagging newborn and tossing baby in dumpster
