Karen Walton said she was just about to call police to report her missing husband when they contacted her.
What she learned has shattered her life and the lives of her family.James O. Walton, 41, Sandy, was dead. He had been shot once in the upper body with a large-caliber handgun. Passing motorists found his body on the side of I-80 about 7200 West shortly after 9 a.m. Sunday.
Detectives have asked the public for help in piecing together Walton's last hours. Their first tip came Tuesday night when a witness reported seeing Walton with two men at Smith's Food and Drug, 800 S. 900 East, Saturday morning.
The witness said Walton left with the two men in his white minivan, which was found Monday parked on a downtown street. That witness also told police one of the men with Walton was driving his van when they left.
Walton still had his wallet with him when he was found, but robbery hasn't been ruled out as a reason for the killing.
Karen Walton said the last time she saw her husband alive was Friday morning when he left for work. He worked as a field engineer for a computer company.
She said she'd tried to page him Friday and Saturday, but he didn't call her back.
"He worked a lot of long hours," she said. Sunday morning she decided to wait no longer. That's when police arrived with news of her husband's death.
"It's devastating," she said. "(The children) have lost their father; they've lost their friend."
She described her husband as a loving and caring father to their two children, a girl, 16, and a boy, 15. "He was a great dad," she said.
Karen and James Walton had been married for 19 years. They moved to Utah six years ago from St. Louis, Missouri, because of his work.
Karen Walton said she knows only what police have told her about her husband's death. She said she has "no clue" why someone would want to kill him.
Walton has no criminal history in Utah.