LOGAN — Investigators are now calling the Hyrum man questioned in the murder of Trisha Ann Autry an official suspect in the case.
But Cache County sheriff's officials remain tight-lipped about specifics surrounding their investigation into the 15-year-old Hyrum girl's death.
Police did release a probable cause statement Friday outlining the specifics of an unrelated rape case involving the same man.
The man admitted to police that he took a 15-year-old Hyrum girl to the USDA Predator Research Facility, south of Millville Canyon, and raped her last May, according to the statement.
The girl told police the man "seemed crazy, and she was scared that he would do something to hurt her if she told anyone about the rape," according to the statement.
So far, there's no evidence of a rape in Autry's case, Cache County Sheriff's Lt. Von Williamson said.
In both cases it appears the man knew the girls, police say.
The extent of the man's relationship with Autry is still under investigation.
"We are still trying to determine the nature and extent of the link between those two and how much they knew each other," Williamson said.
Police say it was the similarities between the rape case and Autry's murder, as well as the man's employment at the USDA facility, that led investigators to question him.
Police found Autry's partial remains buried 10 to 11 feet below the ground Monday, also at the USDA Predator Research Facility in Millville.
Police have filled in the hole where Autry's remains were found and were expected to turn the burial site back over to USDA officials sometime Friday.
Detectives will spend the weekend sifting through the evidence they've gathered, Williamson said. The nature of that evidence, however, has remained a closely guarded secret.
Investigators were still awaiting reports Friday from the Utah medical examiner, who used dental records to identify Autry's remains. Williamson would not say what portions of Autry's body were discovered or how long they might have been buried. Williamson also declined to comment on whether police had searched the man's Hyrum home.
According to court records, the man had an extensive criminal history, plus several attempted suicides. In October 2000 he apparently shot himself in the shoulder with a .22 during an apparent attempted suicide, Williamson said.
E-mail: djensen@desnews.com