HOLLADAY, Utah — The Unified Police Department says a 53-year-old woman in Holladay is in the hospital after she was found beaten inside her home on Thursday.
UPD says they were called to the home at noon on Thursday after a neighbor said they found the victim in the basement of the home on South Meadowcrest Road.
The victim, who has not been identified at this time, was taken to the hospital. Police say she is in critical, but stable condition.
Heather Eaves lives along South Meadowcrest Road in Holladay.
She says she and her husband were walking near her friend's home, after not hearing from her for a few days.
"I told my husband that something was wrong because her back door was all the way open," said Eaves.
Eaves told FOX 13 News she went inside the home and that it had been ransacked.
"Upstairs was all like the drawers were pulled out her, I like her mattress was torn apart," said Eaves.
She says she could hear groaning and thought her friend could be having a medical issue.
"I was running around frantically looking for screaming for her, said Eaves. "When I went to back my way out of the house, I flipped on the basement stairs and at the bottom of the stairs was a huge puddle of blood."
Eaves says it was in the basement where she found her friend.
"She was lying on the floor," said Eaves. "Her body on this side was like purple and blue and she had handprints all over her."
Eaves says her husband called 911.
Investigators and UPD's mobile crime lab were on scene throughout the day, combing through different areas both inside and outside of the home.
The incident came as a shock to other residents on the street like James Julian.
"She'd always come over and talk to me and, just super friendly, nice outgoing person," said Julian.
For Eaves, she told FOX 13 News on Thursday that this is probably the most traumatic event she has been through.
"It's horrible, you know, and that they left her there, I guess so long that hypothermia is what the police officer says that they were afraid they were going to lose her from originally was hypothermia because they just left her back door open.," said Eaves.
She is holding out hope her friend will be okay.
"I love her to death and I just hope she knows that we're all praying for her and we all hope she gets better," said Eaves.
Officials with Unified Police say they are attempting to identify a suspect in this incident.
