An acquaintance allegedly gave an Orem teenager who was found dead behind a Utah County church Saturday a lethal injection of drugs during a late-night gathering with friends, sheriff's investigators say.
State medical examiner Todd Grey told the Utah County sheriff's office Monday that a preliminary urinalysis revealed a "controlled substance" in 17-year-old Natalie Michele Farrer's body. An official cause of death is pending further toxicological testing.Detective Lt. Craig Turner said an acquaintance "provided the controlled substance to the victim and administered those substances to the victim." He refused to say what type of drugs were involved. Turner also wouldn't say whether Farrer willingly accepted the drugs or if they were forced on her.
Monte Hatch White, 19, Orem, was arrested Sunday night in connection with Farrer's death. At a bail hearing Monday in 4th Circuit Court, Utah County prosecutors proposed charges of second-degree murder, two counts of distribution of a controlled substance, tampering with evidence and abuse of a dead body. White is being held in the Utah County Jail on $250,000 bail.
Detectives also placed a 17-year-old girl in youth detention on a proposed charge of destruction of evidence.
"I feel confident we have most of the major answers that are pertinent to this case," Turner said. Officials, however, were tight-lipped Monday about most of what their investigation uncovered.
Turner said investigators believe Farrer died at White's home, 1685 S. 270 West, Orem. He declined to say what they found during a search of the house Sunday night. Detectives said Farrer's body was driven from the home and dumped behind the Lakeview LDS 1st Ward chapel, 1680 N. Geneva Road, around 11 a.m. Sat-ur-day.
An anonymous call from a west Center Street pay phone - which Turner said sounded rehearsed - alerted Provo police to the location of Farrer's body Saturday afternoon. Investigators played a copy of the 911 tape Monday.
"I was just walking on Geneva Road, and I think there's a dead body by a church," the caller told a police dispatcher. "I was walking to my house, and it was like some girl just laying there. She's ice cold."
Turner refused to say whether police suspect the caller was the teenage girl they have in custody.
Farrer's parents, Scott and Michele Farrer, last saw their daughter about 10 p.m. Friday. They thought she was with a friend, detective Carter said. The parents learned about their daughter's death from a Sunday morning news-paper article.
Farrer was a junior at Mountain View High School and the Alpine Life and Learning Center, Alpine School District's alternative school. Administrators said she was progressing toward early graduation.