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Police arrested a 19-year-old man on Tuesday in connection to the death of a Sanpete County man whose burned body was found in a shallow grave last month by hunters.
Raul Francisco Vidrio is now in the Utah County jail, accused of killing 22-year-old Wesley Dee Nay.
Nay was last seen alive on Aug. 29, though he was reported missing on Sept. 18 by a couple in whose backyard he lived. His body was discovered on Oct. 19 by a man and his son who were hunting coyotes, according to court records.
Police have been investigating the case for weeks, and started looking at Vidrio when he was arrested inside a stolen pickup truck with shovels, a pick and gas jugs in the bed of the vehicle.
On Vidrio's cell phone, police say, was a photo that appeared to be Nay digging his own grave.
Nay's charred remains were buried beneath an inch or two of soil, the Utah County Sheriff's Office said in a news release. The grave was located several miles east of the Indianola LDS Stake Center and about 2,000 feet inside Utah County.
While excavating the grave, officers uncovered charred bones, including a human skull, and remains of a foot and hand. A medical examiner determined that Nay suffered "significant blunt force trauma" and had injuries indicating he had been cut or stabbed, according to the sheriff's office.
Search warrant affidavits say that on the last day Nay was seen alive, he was with Vidrio. The murder suspect told police that he drove around with Nay in a stolen truck through the night, used drugs with him and then went to another man's house in Mount Pleasant.
That Mount Pleasant man told officers that Nay and Vidrio came to his house to pick up a bicycle, and that Nay got into an argument with another man, who called Nay "a sex offender or pedophile," which upset Nay, according to the affidavit.
Vidrio told police that the next morning, he dropped Nay off at the residence where Nay was living.
Another man told police that he helped Vidrio cut wood with a borrowed chainsaw, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
When asked where he cut the wood, the man "drew two maps and pointed out a location, on a satellite photo, an area only a few feet from where the body of Nay was found," according to the affidavit.
The man also reported that Vidrio told him the wood would be used "to burn evidence and flesh" and asked "if he had ever seen flesh burn."
Vidrio was arrested on Sept. 1 in Sandy in connection with the stolen truck.
On Sept. 20, he pleaded guilty in 3rd District Court in Salt Lake County and was sentenced to probation and jail time. He was released from jail on Tuesday.
Utah County Sheriff Sgt. Spencer Cannon said Wednesday that they arrested Vidrio as soon as he was released from the Salt Lake County jail. They could have made a formal arrest weeks ago, Cannon said, but opted to continue the investigation without an arrest because Vidrio was already serving time in jail.
Vidrio's bail has been set at $500,000 cash-only, according to the sheriff's office.
The investigation into Nay's death remains active, the sheriff's office said, adding that "it is likely that additional arrests will be made."
Vidrio's criminal record also includes a misdemeanor conviction in Sanpete County for possession of marijuana and methamphetamine. He pleaded guilty in March in 6th District Court and was given credit for 30 days of time served.