July 15, 2019   •  Nelson Phillips  •  Staff Writer

A fire that began Sunday night has consumed 1,800 acres so far on a hillside north of Tremonton.

According to Box Elder County officials, as of approximately 1:30 p.m on Monday the fire has been 20% contained, and no structures are threatened at this time.

The "Radio Hill Fire," as it's being called, is believed to have been started by a lightning strike. Local, state and federal resources are on scene battling the blaze, including two helicopters.

County fire officials are asking the public to stay out of the area, and to keep drones away from the airspace around the fire so that ground and air crews can operate safely.

No plans for any evacuations have been made.

June 29, 2019  •  Nelson Phillips  •  Staff Writer

In a press release issued on Saturday morning, the Box Elder County Sheriff's Department has offered some additional details regarding the death of a Corinne teen.

According to the release, 16-year-old Marcus Elkins had met up with three other teens, all from Corinne, on the night of June 26.

"As reported by the other juveniles involved there was consumption of alcohol during the night," read the release. "Activities took them between the two parks in Corinne and at some point during their movement Marcus collapsed. The three juveniles moved Marcus to Bill Flack Park from where he collapsed."

Elkins' body was found at Bill Flack Park on the morning of June 27.

The Sheriff's Department is not speculating on a cause or time of death, and is currently awaiting autopsy results from the Utah Medical Examiner's Office. The case has been turned over to the Box Elder County Attorney's Office for review to determine any possible charges.

At this time no arrests have been made, and the names of the juveniles involved have not been released.

June 27, 2019  •  Nelson Phillips  •  Staff Writer

The body of a teenage boy has been found at a Corinne City park, and law enforcement officials are calling the death "suspicious."

According to Chief Deputy Dale Ward of the Box Elder County Sheriff's Department, the body was discovered at approximately 7:50 a.m. on Thursday morning at Bill Flack Park, and reported to authorities.

"Deputies responded and found a deceased male later identified as Marcus Elkins, a 16-year-old juvenile. Investigation reveals that Elkins did not die at this location and was brought to the park sometime after death," said Ward. "Information sources state that Elkins was seen as late at 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday night in the area of the park. There were no signs of external trauma on Elkins."

Ward continued that leads in the case are developing rapidly, and that several juveniles have been identified as "persons of interest" who may know more about, or perhaps were involved, in Elkin's death.

The body of the boy has been transported to the Utah Medical Examiner's Office in Salt Lake City, where an autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

​May 23, 2019  •  Nelson Phillips  •  Staff Writer

(UPDATE: The shooting victim has been identified as 50-year-old Dennis Gwyther of Salt Lake City. The identity of the passenger who was injured has not yet been released. UHP officials have confirmed that the passenger, a male, was shot in the arm.)

A freeway shooting Wednesday night on I-84 near Snowville has left one person dead, a passenger injured, and has sparked a manhunt in Idaho for the shooter.

The victims in the apparent road rage incident have not yet been identified by law enforcement officials, but the News Journal has confirmed that they were not Box Elder County residents.

According to Utah Highway Patrol (UHP) Lieutenant Lee Perry, at approximately 8:02 p.m. on Wednesday night a call was received by Box Elder dispatch from a passenger in a Range Rover saying that the driver had been shot, the passenger injured.

“A passing EMT was able to clarify that the driver of the Range Rover was beyond help and was deceased,” said Perry. “That witness/victim described the suspect vehicle as a silver Jetta with out of state plates. An 'Attempt to Locate' was put out for Idaho and Nevada.”

The passenger was transported by ambulance to Bear River Valley Hospital in Tremonton, where he or she was treated and released. Troopers from the UHP and deputies from the Box Elder County Sheriff’s Office secured the scene, set up traffic controls, and began a search for the suspect’s vehicle.

A silver Jetta matching the description of the suspect’s vehicle was shortly thereafter located by Idaho State Police near Burley. The driver tried to evade pursuit by Idaho troopers, and ended up crashing his vehicle into an irrigation canal. He then fled on foot.

​At the request of Idaho officials, the Utah Department of Public Safety (DPS) helicopter was dispatched to Idaho to help locate the suspect, and as of this writing that search is ongoing.

Idaho officials have identified the suspect as 45-year-old Jonathan Llana, thought to be from California. He is described as 5 foot 10 inches tall, 150 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. If spotted, the public is warned not to approach Llana, as he is considered “armed and dangerous.” Information as to Llana’s whereabouts can be called into the Idaho State Police at (208) 846-7550.

Both cars involved in the shooting have been recovered by the Utah State Bureau of Investigation, and are undergoing forensic testing at the Utah Crime Lab.
​
This story will be updated as more information is released.

May 20, 2019  •  Nelson Phillips  •  Staff Writer

A Brigham City woman has died, and her passenger is being hospitalized, after her car ran off a freeway overpass.

According to Lieutenant Lee Perry of the Utah Highway Patrol, at 11:13 a.m. on Monday the woman was driving westbound on 1100 South in Brigham City. She was approaching the freeway overpass when she somehow lost control of her vehicle.

“Just after entering the diverging diamond intersection over I-15 the vehicle left the roadway to the left and crossed over the northbound off ramp from I-15 at a high rate of speed,” said Perry. “After crossing the off ramp the vehicle went airborne off the overpass embankment for approximately 100 feet. The vehicle landed into a ditch then flipped over and came to rest on its top.”

The vehicle, a 2007 Chevrolet Avalanche, sustained extensive damage to the front-end, buckling the frame.

The driver, identified as 29-year-old Sammi Jo Revilla-Fernandez, suffered severe injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. Her passenger, Niceforo Revilla, 34, also of Brigham City, sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was transported by ambulance to Brigham City Community Hospital. Both occupants were wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash.

The accident is still being investigated, but Perry said excessive speed was a factor. Investigators are also looking into whether Revilla-Fernandez suffered some sort of medical episode that led to the crash.
​
Traffic was affected for approximately three hours as the accident was investigated and the scene cleared.

Event photos by Loni Newby and Hailey Hendricks

Shortly after 5 p.m. this evening emergency personnel were dispatched to an explosion and fire at S & M Diesel Service, 3585 W. 5000 North, Brigham City. Two men were injured, one man was severely burned and remains in critical condition. That man was taken by ambulance to Bear River Valley Hospital. The steel building suffered significant damage and is considered a total loss. Although the fire was put out, by the efforts of 25 firefighters from six stations. The explosion occurred when a welder made contact with a fuel tank. 

    
A well-prepared Michelle Richan survived seven days after getting stuck in remote area of West Box Elder County

    Brigham City resident Michelle Richan, for whom searchers had been looking for nearly a week after her disappearance on March 19, was located early Tuesday afternoon, though details were scarce prior to the News Journal’s Tuesday print deadline.
    “All I know so far is she has been located and she is alive. I don’t know any details yet,” said Lt. Tony Ferdberder shortly after noon on Tuesday, as news of Richan’s rescue became known.
    Within minutes, however, Ferdberder was able to fill in more of the story.
    A state road crew worker discovered Richan with her vehicle, which had become stuck in treacherous, muddy conditions on Immigrant Trail Road, in Box Elder County south of Park Valley.
    “She’s perfectly fine,” Ferdberder said. “Search and Rescue has been activated and is on their way to get her out.”
    Throughout the weeklong search since she was reported missing on March 20, friends and family members had described Richan as someone who would have been well-prepared for some kind of emergency, with necessary survival gear. Ferdberder confirmed such was the case.
    “She had plenty of food and water to survive. She had or was in process of building a fire to stay warm.”
    Richan had been unaccounted for since March 19, when she left Eureka, Nevada, after visiting her boyfriend, said acquaintance and private investigator Michelle Palmer, of Corner Canyon Investigations. When she didn’t arrive home in Brigham City as planned, both her boyfriend and her daughter notified authorities.
    Surveillance video from March 19 placed Richan first in Carlin, then in Wells, Nevada, that afternoon.
    Not a trace of her was heard again until Tuesday.
    “There’s no indication of anything,” Ferdberder said Tuesday morning before Richan was found. He declined to make speculations at that point.
    The speculation of investigator Palmer, however, was spot on.
    Tuesday morning, in an interview with the News Journal, Palmer had said, “My thoughts are she went off the road somewhere, maybe off the road to explore and got stuck.”
    Immigrant Trail Road, according to Ferdberder’s information, is a less-travelled backroad running between State Route 30 and Kelton. Road crews were preparing for post-winter grading of the road when they discovered Richan.
    Palmer said a private-citizen airplane pilot who was assisting in the search saw Richan’s vehicle from his plane Tuesday and was able to alert the road crewman who then established contact.
    Ferdberder and Palmer indicated that Richan would be taken to Park Valley, and from there most likely transported to the hospital.
    The main thing, though, repeated by Palmer several times in another brief interview after the good news, was “She’s alive and well.”
    Earlier in the day, seven days into a fruitless search, moods were beginning to lower, Ferdberder said after Richan had been located. “You do, you start to lose hope for a good ending, if you will. It was definitely getting somber.”
    It was a definitely different mood from the “Praise the Lord!” response of Robyn Gail Ramirez, a family friend of Richan’s who was a frequent customer at the Sinclair Short Stop in Corinne where Richan has worked for about 15 years.
    When asked how she was feeling after Richan was discovered, Ramirez replied, “Utter and complete joy and happiness! Everyone at the store is laughing and crying! Customers are coming in beaming with relief and surprise! We’re all running around taking too neighbors and so happy. The joy is palpable!”
    Ramirez described Richan as funny, witty, ready with a snappy comeback when customers joke with her, and as being “very honest and very truthful. Just a really good person,” Ramirez said. “You know, the community — everybody stops in this store. You can’t even go in there without seeing people welling up.”
    Ramirez had set up a Facebook fundraiser that had earned nearly $1,200 in less than 24 hours by Tuesday morning, money that was to help pay for gas and meals for volunteer searchers.
    “The way people have donated, it’s just stunned me,” Ramirez said.
    Ferdberder said about 150 such volunteers had contributed to the search since it began, “out looking, driving roads between here and Nevada to see if they can see anything, a vehicle crashed off the roadway, anything along those lines,” in a search area he described simply as “huge.”
    Another obstacle in the search were the same wet, muddy conditions of backroads that led to Richan’s disappearance in the first place.
    Ferdberder said Richan did right to remain with her vehicle — as long as she was equipped with stores and gear to do so.
    “Especially in a remote area like that,” he said. “Think of just the last week: we’ve had rain and snow storms. If she’d been out in those conditions, it could very well have turned out different.”