Police have found a former Utah state legislator who was reported missing after a trail run Saturday in St. George.
Chad Bennion, 52, was returning from a run on a trail in a remote area in Washington County on Saturday when his car became stuck, St. George police said on Monday. He didn't have cell phone service, but he did hear radio reports that search parties were looking for him, police wrote in a press statement. Bennion said he had food and supplies and decided to stay with his car in hopes that he would be found, police wrote. A passer-by found Bennion on Monday and helped him to free his car, police wrote.
Bennion, formerly of Murray, who served in the Utah House and was later the chairman of the Salt Lake County Republican Party, was reported missing by his family.
The 52-year-old, who is attending law school in Southern California, was visiting family in St. George for the Christmas holidays. His family told The Salt Lake Tribune that her son left her home about 3 p.m.
Bennion was once an elite runner who in the 1990s competed in marathons across the country. In 1992, he sought to represent the United States in the marathon at the Barcelona Olympics. He finished 14th at the U.S. trials.
He posted a best of 2 hours 13 minutes and finished second at a marathon in Duluth, Minn.
Bennion represented Murray and parts of central Salt Lake County in the Utah House of Representatives from 1999 through 2005. Then in 2013, he went on to win election as the county's Republican Party chairman.
Later that year, Bennion incited complaints from Democrats and Republicans. He raised the question of whether Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill was a "cop hater" after Gill deemed the shooting of Danielle Willard by two West Valley City police officers to be unjustified. Bennion suggested Gill's experiences growing up in India could have influenced his decision. Many interpreted the comments as racist. Bennion's then-wife, meanwhile, worked for the Utah chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, which also was a critic of Gill's determination.
Bennion resigned his position in March 2014 after being charged in Murray justice court with six misdemeanor counts of domestic violence over an altercation with that wife, whom he was in the process of divorcing.
He resolved the case by entering a plea in abeyance to one count of disorderly conduct and agreeing to take an anger management course, according to a court docket. The remaining charges were dismissed.
ealbery@sltrib.com
Twitter: @erinalberty