This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
As the investigation into the death of Utah Transit Authority maintenance worker Kay Porter Ricks continues, Wyoming prosecutors on Tuesday filed a motion seeking to seal search warrants "to preserve the integrity of an active investigation."
Lincoln County Attorney Spencer Allred said in a news release that "agents are still reviewing evidence, statements and other leads that are integral to a final determination as to criminal responsibility in the death of Mr. Ricks."
"We understand there is a great deal of public interest into this matter," Allred said, "but out main goal is to protect our investigation. When additional information becomes available and is appropriate to release we will do so."
Ricks, 63, was found dead on May 17 near a dirt road in the high desert south of Kemmerer, in Lincoln County, Wyo.
His UTA his work truck was located two days later in the woods near Pinedale, Wyo., which is in neighboring Sublette County.
Persons of interest in Ricks' death are a Utah father and son, Flint Wayne Harrison, 51, and Dereck James "DJ" Harrison, 22, who had been camping near Pinedale prior to their arrests on May 14.
The Harrisons ended up in Wyoming after allegedly kidnapping and assaulting a mother and four of her daughters at a Centerville home on May 10. The females escaped the home, and the Harrisons eluded a police manhunt and fled the state two days later, the same day that Ricks and his work truck disappeared.
The Harrisons were extradited to Utah last week, and on Monday made their first court appearances in the Centerville kidnapping case.
The motive for the abduction and assaults, Centerville police have said, appears to have been meth-fueled paranoia that the mother had informed police of their drug activities.