Human remains found in Grand County may be those of man who shot ranger 9 times

GRAND COUNTY – The remains of a man believed to have been involved in the shooting of a park ranger five years ago may have been located.

Lance Leeroy Arellano | Photo courtesy of the Grand County Sheriff's Office, St. George News
Lance Leeroy Arellano | Photo courtesy of the Grand County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News

The possible remains of Lance Leeroy Arellano, a man accused of shooting state park ranger Brody Young nine times on Nov. 19, 2010, were discovered by a Moab resident who was home from college for the Christmas break, the Grand County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release issued Thursday.

Caleb Shumway, of Moab, was searching an area near Tangrila Ranch “for the sole purpose to search for any evidence of the location of the suspect in the shooting,” according to the press release.

Shumway ended up finding a human bone and a bag containing a handgun and a magazine in the area and subsequently informed the Sheriff’s Office. He led authorities to where he found the bone and bag.

The area where the bone and bag was found was searched and the remains were located in a cave-like area that was accessed by crawling through a narrow entrance.

Investigators believe the remains to be those of Arellano, according to the press release. The remains are being sent to the Utah State Medical Examiner’s Office for positive identification.

Young, who survived the shooting, was shot during a routine vehicle check at the Poison Spider Trailhead outside of Moab, Utah, according to a statement from the Utah Department of Natural Resources and Division of Parks and Recreation.

Young now works an assistant coordinator of Utah’s statewide boating program.

“The Department of Natural Resources and the Utah Division of Parks and Recreation are grateful for the continued dedication and commitment of our law enforcement partners and volunteers in Grand County,” state officials said in the statement Thursday.

“We will anxiously continue to wait for confirmation from the Utah State Medical Examiner’s Office for positive identification,” they said.

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