TOOELE COUNTY, Utah – Police have confirmed that the body of a woman who went missing earlier this year has been found.
Jane Ashby, 62, went missing on July 31, and on Saturday a group of scouts hiking on the west side of the Oquirrh Mountains near Butterfield Canyon Road and Middle Canyon Road found her body.
The Boy Scouts and leaders came across a badly damaged vehicle, and scout leaders later found the woman’s body. Police said it appears Ashby lost control of her car on a sharp turn, and they estimate the vehicle rolled about 800 to 1,000 feet down the mountain.
Boy Scout Xander Hemmert described finding the vehicle.
“He spotted an engine fan, and then I told the rest of the troop and they turned around and saw the car and we decided to go up and look around,” he said.
Craig Lewis is the scout leader for Troop 644, and he said they thought they might find more than a vehicle if they searched the area.
“When I got there I found that it was fairly new, not recent, but recent enough to suspect that maybe there would be something around,” he said. "...We found the body."
Police confirmed that it was Ashby’s body the scout leaders found. Police said they are still processing the scene where the car was found to determine what happened.
Ashby’s family made a statement on the Facebook page “Find Jane Ashby” which reads as follows:
“I just want to let everyone know that my mother, Jane Ashby, was found earlier today. Her car and body were found at the bottom of a deep ravine in Middle Canyon.
She was found by a group of boy scouts that were out hiking. They went to great lengths to help search and identify her after finding a piece of her car on the trail. I am so thankful to them and their leader for being such good boy scouts.
The detective informed me that her car traveled thousands of feet down the mountain and that her body was eventually thrown clear of her vehicle. The Tooele County Sheriffs Department will be in charge of the investigation. They spent the day marking off the entire scene and gathering all of her belongings, etc.
Thank you again to everyone who helped so much in looking for her. I will post any other information as I receive it.”
