This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The stolen bronze statue of Mormon prophets Joseph Smith and Brigham Young turned up in a West Jordan garage, authorities said Wednesday.
Salt Lake City detectives say they found the 800-pound artwork after receiving an anonymous tip. The tipster had seen the SUV and trailer involved in the heist parked at the West Jordan home, Detective Greg Wilking said.
Two of four suspects in the theft had been formally arrested Wednesday, Wilking said; a third was being questioned by police Wednesday evening.
The sculpture, valued at $125,000, was snatched from its spot in front of Salt Lake City's Northgate Business Park, 825 N. 300 West, at about 4 a.m. Tuesday. Security footage recorded four people — apparently three men and a woman — loading the statue on a trailer and driving away.
Investigators are unsure why the thieves wanted the artwork, Wilking said, but there's a good chance they planned to chop it up and sell smaller pieces as scrap metal.
Police contacted the owners of the West Jordan home Tuesday. The owners weren't there and didn't appear to realize that the stolen statue had been stashed in their garage, Wilking said. The home belongs to the mother of one of the suspects, according to a Salt Lake County jail booking report.
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