Twenty-three years after her skeletal remains were found in a field outside of Salt Lake City, Nikole Bakoles’ murder remains unsolved.
Bakoles was a young mother who went missing in March 2000. On Oct. 8 of that year, duck hunters discovered her remains in a field near Saltair, a concert venue west of Salt Lake City.
The body was not immediately identified, and investigators gave her the nickname “Saltair Sally” because of the location where the body was found. In 2012, DNA testing identified the body as Bakoles, and her remains were interred in her home state of Washington.
Who was Nikole Bakoles?
Nikole “Niki” Bakoles was a creative, down-to-earth girl who wanted to raise a family and loved being a mother, per the Deseret News. She was 20 years old at the approximate time of her death.
Bakoles grew up in Washington but moved to Utah in 1998 with her boyfriend, Joel Chaudoin, according to the Utah Department of Public Safety. They had a daughter shortly thereafter, but lost custody, according to the Deseret News.
According to the department, Bakoles was last seen in March 2000, when she and Chaudoin had a fight. He told investigators that he left after and never saw her again.
Bakoles’ family did not initially report her missing because they had little contact with her after her move to Utah. Family members told the Deseret News they couldn’t keep track of her phone number or address and assumed she needed space.
In 2003, the Bakoles family filed a missing persons report and waited for news.
What happened to Nikole Bakoles?
Less than seven months after Bakoles was last seen, hunters found human remains in a field off I-80 near the Great Salt Lake. The remains were skeletal, but investigators also found hair, some clothing and a blue choker necklace with the body, per the Deseret News.
How did investigators determine Saltair Sally’s identity?
Because the body was found near Saltair, investigators nicknamed her “Saltair Sally.” She remained known by the moniker until 2012, when police used isotope analysis of her hair to narrow down the region she grew up in, per KSL. Police identified Bakoles as a potential match for “Sally” and obtained DNA from her family to compare to the body. It was a match.
James Bakoles, Nikole Bakoles’ brother, told the Deseret News he felt a mixture of relief and pain upon learning of the body’s ID.
“There’s an incredible amount of relief she’s not out there suffering. It brings peace to us knowing that’s the case,” he said. “There’s very little peace surrounding the nature of her discovery and disappearance. With the answer of every question comes a hundred more questions.”
Although the specific cause of Bakole’s death has not been released, police have said they believe she was killed, per KSL.
Where does the case stand now?
According to the Utah Department of Public Safety, Bakoles’ case is classified as an unsolved homicide.
Jason Jensen, co-founder of the Utah Cold Case Coalition, told ABC4 in 2012 that his organization had received a phone call from someone claiming to have killed Bakoles. However, the person gave no other information and Jensen was unable to track them down.
Unified police told KSL they had questioned Chaudoin, Bakoles’ boyfriend, but that he was not an official suspect or person of interest at the time. However, police have asked anyone who knew Bakoles or Chaudoin from January to June of 2000 to contact them, per the Deseret News.
Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder spoke at a news conference held in 2012 after Bakoles was identified.
“Someone took this beautiful young girl and left her out in the mud,” he said. “We want to find out who did it.”
Anyone with any information regarding Bakoles or the case is encouraged to contact detective Ben Pender with the Unified Police Department at 385-468-9816.