SANDY — A murder investigation that started nearly 1 1/2 years ago in Sandy is still very active, according to police, even though no arrests have been made and very little information about the case has been released.
Just a couple of weeks ago, two safes that were seized as evidence in 2015 were opened by Sandy police, according to a search warrant affidavit unsealed in 3rd District Court.
On Nov. 23, 2015, the body of Marco Antonio Ibanez, 20, was found in a basement apartment at 1365 E. 8085 South.
Detectives previously said the case was complex because of the number of people who were in and out of the house during the time of Ibanez's death. Investigators have had to sort out who was renting a room, who was subletting a room from the renter, and who was just an occassional visitor.
On the day Ibanez's body was found, one of the subletters went into the basement and discovered that "the door to the bedroom was slightly opened, inside in a chair he observed the deceased body of a Hispanic male. The male had what appeared (to be) a gunshot wound to the head," according to a search warrant served on Jan. 25.
Ibanez was not listed in the warrant as one of the renters or subletters.
Among the items of evidence collected that day were "two black rectangular personal safes" taken from the closet behind the body, the warrant states.
The recently opened safes contained: "One box of 40 caliber handgun ammunition. Two pairs of sunglasses black, one blue lighter, one black flashlight, one Carmex, one black zipper bag containing 40 caliber ammunition and a black latex glove. One scale with possible drug residue," according to the affidavit.
All of the items were found in one safe. The second was empty.
Sandy police on Wednesday said they could not talk about the details of the case or why it took nearly 18 months to open the safes collected from the room.
In January of 2015, Ibanez pleaded guilty to drug distribution and attempted drug possession in exchange for the dismissal of a charge of being a restricted person in possession of a firearm, according to court records. He was sentenced to probation.
In that case, police found Ibanez to be in possession of marijuana and cocaine. He also had a handgun that he told police was for "protection," charging documents state.