This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A mystery man who has been locked up in the Utah County Jail since July 1 has been identified as a missing New Mexico man, sheriff's officials said Tuesday.
Philip Todd Beavers, 61, of Farmington, N.M., had "lost his job and could not find work" and left his hometown around June 24, the Utah County Sheriff's Office said.
Arrested for trespassing, Beavers has been in the Utah County Jail since July 1 on a $1,200 cash bail, but he had refused to divulge any information about himself. Officers interviewed the enigmatic man several times but had gotten no personal information out of him.
"He's a very pleasant, nice person, but he's very guarded," Utah County Sheriff's Lt. Dennis Harris said. "In a situation like this, you wonder if he's connected to criminal activity or if he's just had an unfortunate family situation and ended up homeless."
After asking the public for help identifying inmate "John Doe" on July 21, the sheriff's office received hundreds of tips. Famed criminals D.B. Cooper and Alcatraz escapee Frank Morris were among the names investigators received.
Detectives also received emails suggesting that the John Doe was in fact former Centre County, Penn., District Attorney Ray Gricar. Gricar disappeared in 2005 about nine months before he planned to retire as the top prosecutor in the central Pennsylvania county that is home to Penn State University's main campus in State College. Gricar was declared legally dead on Monday.
Early Tuesday afternoon, Centre County prosecutors confirmed to The Associated Press that the man was not Gricar.
Beavers was arrested for trespassing after Utah County sheriff's officers found him checking out cars in the underground parking garage beneath the station. Officers asked him to leave, but he refused, Harris said. The man also refused to give any identifying information, and the police arrested him on suspicion of trespassing, interfering with an investigation and refusing to provide information to a police officer.
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