MONTICELLO -- Three people have been arrested in the slaying of a Colorado man whose body was found on the side of an isolated road in rural southeastern Utah this month.
James Casey Eaton, 18, of Dove Creek, may have been killed because he owed money for a drug deal, said San Juan County Sheriff Mike Lacy.Eaton's body was discovered April 9 by a passing motorist on Ucolo Road, about 100 yards north of U.S. 666, 17 miles east of Monticello.
Eaton, a senior at Dove Creek High School, had been missing for nearly a week before his body was discovered. He had been shot 19 times, Lacy said.
The three suspects, all from Dove Creek, were arrested Tuesday.
Terril Calliham, 18, also is a suspect in the March 30 burglary of a St. George sporting-goods store. In the robbery at Dixie Gun and Fish, 10 handguns and four assault rifles were stolen.
He was arrested Tuesday after officers traced one of the stolen guns to him, said St. George police detective Barry Golding. The other two were arrested later that day.
Lacy said authorities believe there may have been two murder weapons used in the killing and that one or both may have come from the St. George robbery. However, the murder weapons have not been recovered.
The others arrested were Misty Ernst, 22, and a 16-year old male juvenile.
Calliham arrived in St. George about four months ago and was staying with a friend who was attending Dixie College. He disappeared after the robbery.
Calliham was being held in the Montezuma County Jail in lieu of $200,000 bail. Ernst was being held in the San Juan County Jail in Monticello, and the juvenile was taken to a facility in Grand Junction, Colo.