SARATOGA SPRINGS, Utah — The first day of a search of the Jordan River for evidence in hopes of turning up clues into the death of a Saratoga Springs woman and her 8-year-old son wrapped up Monday.
A Federal Bureau of Investigation dive team, along with the Saratoga Springs Police Department, was seen at the river near Riverside Drive, between Jordan Ridge Boulevard and Driftwood Drive.
Jessica Lyman, 44, and her son, Eli Painter, were shot in the middle of the night on March 28. They were found by a teenager (the daughter and sister of the victims) later that morning after she arrived home. Painter was pronounced dead at the scene, while Lyman was taken to the hospital but died several days later.
Several months later, police have still not arrested a suspect.
On Monday, investigators have been clearing through the phragmites as they moved in and out of the riverbed throughout the day, equipped with waders, shovels, and diving equipment.
"Our police have been gathering various sources of evidence, sending them to labs to get analyzed, and that trail has, or has, led us to this location where we're looking for additional evidence," said Saratoga Springs Police Department spokesperson AnnElise Harrison.
The trail also put several residents on the doorstep of a multi-agency investigation.
“My brother goes into work, and he texted saying, ‘The FBI is outside your window,'" said Katie McGee.
Local and county officials searched the river with magnets shortly after the incident unfolded in March, but have returned because they say they have an FBI dive team and lower water levels to their advantage.
It’s not the first large police presence that neighbors had over an unsettling seven-month stretch.
“Usually it’s very lively, there’s always kids out and about," McGee said, but I think it kind of scared the neighborhood.”
McGee noted that missing evidence only fuels the neighborhood worries.
“When the warrants came out and they said no murder weapons were recovered, that was kind of stressful,” she said.
It led some, like Leeann Miller, to seek their own forms of protection.
“After it happened, I put up a security camera out back," Miller shared.
Harrison said the search could take days or even weeks.
“They’re getting muddy out there, but hopefully they can find something,” said Miller, who hopes the search efforts will restore a sense of safety in their community. “I just hope the family can get some answers and hopefully have a little piece from that.”
In the months since the double murder, investigators have not released many details. Some new information has come from unsealed search warrants — such as doorbell camera footage showing someone lurking nearby, and the discovery of a mask in the home that resembled one worn by that unidentified person.
The victims' family said they are "encouraged" by Sunday's announcement.
"[We] remain hopeful it will help bring accountability to those responsible," their statement read. "We miss Jessica and Eli every single day and continue to seek the answers and justice their memories deserve."
Saratoga Springs Police are still asking anyone with information that could help the investigation to call them at 801-766-6503.
