West Valley City police recover body near Snowbasin Resort

Police • Autopsy will determine gender and identity of the person.

Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune
Authorities with West Valley City and the Weber County Sheriff's Office were involved in a "body recovery" effort near Snowbasin Resort on Tuesday, January 7, 2014. The body is that of a male who was reported missing in December, according to West Valley City Deputy Chief Mike Powell (center). Powell declined to give additional information about the deceased person, or say what led officers to the Snowbasin location.The snow -- up to 6 feet at the location in question -- was making the body recovery difficult.

Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune
Authorities with West Valley City and the Weber County Sheriffís Office were involved in a "body recovery" effort near Snowbasin Resort on Tuesday, January 7, 2014. The body is that of a male who was reported missing in December, according to West Valley City Deputy Chief Mike Powell (center). Powell declined to give additional information about the deceased person, or say what led officers to the Snowbasin location.The snow ó up to 6 feet at the location in question ó was making the body recovery difficult.

Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune
Authorities with West Valley City and the Weber County Sheriff's Office were involved in a "body recovery" effort near Snowbasin Resort on Tuesday, January 7, 2014. The body is that of a male who was reported missing in December, according to West Valley City Deputy Chief Mike Powell. Powell declined to give additional information about the deceased person, or say what led officers to the Snowbasin location.The snow -- up to 6 feet at the location in question -- was making the body recovery difficult.

Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune
Authorities with West Valley City and the Weber County Sheriff's Office were involved in a "body recovery" effort near Snowbasin Resort on Tuesday, January 7, 2014. The body is that of a male who was reported missing in December, according to West Valley City Deputy Chief Mike Powell. Powell declined to give additional information about the deceased person, or say what led officers to the Snowbasin location.The snow -- up to 6 feet at the location in question -- was making the body recovery difficult.

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Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune Authorities with West Valley City and the Weber County Sheriff's Office were involved in a "body recovery" effort near Snowbasin Resort on Tuesday, January 7, 2014. The body is that of a male who was reported missing in December, according to West Valley City Deputy Chief Mike Powell (center). Powell declined to give additional information about the deceased person, or say what led officers to the Snowbasin location.The snow -- up to 6 feet at the location in question -- was making the body recovery difficult. Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune Authorities with West Valley City and the Weber County Sheriffís Office were involved in a "body recovery" effort near Snowbasin Resort on Tuesday, January 7, 2014. The body is that of a male who was reported missing in December, according to West Valley City Deputy Chief Mike Powell (center). Powell declined to give additional information about the deceased person, or say what led officers to the Snowbasin location.The snow ó up to 6 feet at the location in question ó was making the body recovery difficult. Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune Authorities with West Valley City and the Weber County Sheriff's Office were involved in a "body recovery" effort near Snowbasin Resort on Tuesday, January 7, 2014. The body is that of a male who was reported missing in December, according to West Valley City Deputy Chief Mike Powell. Powell declined to give additional information about the deceased person, or say what led officers to the Snowbasin location.The snow -- up to 6 feet at the location in question -- was making the body recovery difficult. Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune Authorities with West Valley City and the Weber County Sheriff's Office were involved in a "body recovery" effort near Snowbasin Resort on Tuesday, January 7, 2014. The body is that of a male who was reported missing in December, according to West Valley City Deputy Chief Mike Powell. Powell declined to give additional information about the deceased person, or say what led officers to the Snowbasin location.The snow -- up to 6 feet at the location in question -- was making the body recovery difficult.

By Jessica Miller And Janelle Stecklein The Salt Lake Tribune

· January 8, 2014 10:32 am

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Huntsville • West Valley City police recovered a body Tuesday evening near Snowbasin Resort.

West Valley City Deputy Chief Mike Powell said the body was buried under up to 6 feet of snow and investigators will need the medical examiner's office to identify the deceased person's gender, identity and cause of death.

But Powell specifically said that the recovery effort had nothing to do with the case of Susan Powell, a West Valley City mother who disappeared from her home in December 2009.

"I think we were fortunate to find a body," Powell said at about 6 p.m. "The snow is pretty thick and pretty deep out here."

Powell said police were led to the remote location near Snowbasin after getting information while investigating a man who went missing last month.

It took officers most of the day to locate and remove the body in 12-degree weather as new snow continued to fall across the area.

By 3:30 p.m., there were 15-20 people from the police department and Weber County Sheriff's Office working at the scene, Powell said.

Weber County Sheriff's spokesman Mark Lowther said officers had been there since before 11 a.m. Tuesday.

jmiller@sltrib.com