GRAND COUNTY, Utah — More than five years after a park ranger was wounded in a shooting, police believe they have located the remains of the suspect who allegedly shot the ranger nine times before fleeing.
Related: Brothers who set out to find suspect in 2010 shooting find human remains in cave near Moab
According to a press release from the Grand County Sheriff’s Office, police believe they have found the remains of Lance Leeroy Arellano, who is the suspect in an incident on November 19, 2010, where State Park Ranger Brody Young was shot nine times.
According to the release, a Moab resident who was home for Christmas break was searching the area around Tangrila Ranch for the “sole purpose to search for any evidence of the location of the suspect in the shooting.”
The terrain in the area is very rocky and features numerous ledges, caves and crevasses. Inside a cave-like area accessed by crawling through a narrow entrance way, the Moab resident found human remains and a bag containing a handgun and magazine.
The man who found the remains, Caleb Shumway, contacted police. Authorites located evidence with the body that leads them to believe the remains are those of Arellano, but formal identification will be the work of the Utah State Medical Examiner’s Office.
Young was shot while checking on a parked car at the Poison Spider Mesa Trailhead.
“He shot me nine times,” Young told FOX 13 news in 2014 when he was interviewed regarding the documentary “Heroes Behind the Badge: Sacrifice and Survival.”
He said the man suddenly opened fire on him, striking him in the arm, leg and stomach.
“I’m lucky to be here, vertical and mobile, to be honest,” Young said in 2014.
