PROVO, Utah — Provo Police say the body of a teen found within Arches National Park in 1983 has been linked to Provo teen Robby Peay who ran away from a youth treatment center 43 years ago.
On October 7, 1982, 17-year-old Robby Peay, of Provo, ran away from a Salt Lake City youth treatment center and did not return. A missing person case was opened by the Provo Police Department.
In February 1983, an unidentified body was recovered from the Three Gossips area within Arches National Park. According to a press release by the Provo Police Department, The body had a gunshot wound to the head and appeared to have similar physical characteristics to Peay but couldn't not be confirmed due to the decomposition of the remains.
At the time, the dental records were compared to the remains but were declared to not be a match. The body was then buried in an unmarked grave in Moab under the name of John Doe.
Robby Peay's truck was found abandoned 350 miles away in Lake Powell months after the body was found in Moab, though the case would go cold. The family filed to have Peay legally declared deceased in 1990 with a gravestone set in the Provo Cemetary.
In a 2018 review of the case, the dental records were found to have been submitted erroneously. After being corrected, the criteria was found to be higher than 90% matching, identifying John Doe to be the focus of the Robby Peay investigation.
Further investigation revealed the only dental charts on file had no dental images, with x-rays being found in his youth were not able to be used for any comparison.
In attempting to use DNA comparison, where there was no DNA left from the original autopsy of the John Doe, detectives discovered Peay had been adopted at birth. Thus court adoption records had to be approved for unsealing in 2022. It was found Peay had no surviving direct biological family members, though detectives did find a maternal uncle to obtain swabs for DNA testing.
That DNA swab was submitted for the investigation.
During this time, it was discovered that Summit County investigators already obtained DNA samples from John Doe for their own death investigation. This DNA sample was used to positively identify Provo's missing person.
The Office of the Medical Examiner accepted and confirmed the findings, officially certifying the John Doe remains as belonging to Robby Lynn Peay, closing the missing person case. The homicide investigation is ongoing with Grand County Detectives.
Detective Sergeant Patterson released the following statement:
“Working cold cases as a detective is both challenging and time-consuming. Sifting through old files and photos, trying to reconstruct the past, can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. But the moment you uncover that long-awaited lead - the one that has eluded investigators for years - makes all the effort worthwhile.
Robbie Peay had been missing for over 40 years when the breakthrough finally came through dental records and DNA testing. With this crucial evidence, we were able to identify an unknown individual, bringing long-awaited answers to a family that had spent decades in uncertainty. Moments like these are among the most rewarding aspects of the job.”
