By Bryon Glathar

Uinta County Herald

Via Wyoming News Exchange

EVANSTON — Salt Lake City police sifted through trash at the Uinta County Landfill on Tuesday, searching for evidence in the murder of a 15-year-old Utah girl. 

Former Evanston resident Shaun French, 24, was arrested last week as a suspect in the homicide; he’s also been charged with having unlawful sexual acts with a minor. 

Salt Lake City Police Sgt. Todd Mitchell told the Herald on Tuesday that his team of 21 officers planned to return on Wednesday if needed. 

He said they were searching for some very specific evidence but couldn’t say what that evidence is. However, “It’s not like we’re looking for a dead body,” he said. 

Those involved in the search apparently found what they were looking for on Tuesday, as Mitchell told the Herald Wednesday that his team has no plans to return to the landfill. 

Later on Wednesday, the Salt Lake Police Department issued a press release indicating that evidence in the homicide case was in fact recovered. 

More than 250 staffing hours were dedicated to the landfill search, according to the release.

Mitchell said through their investigation, detectives determined French dropped off a load at the landfill just outside Evanston. He said that while he believes there was already ample evidence for a strong case, the weight of the crime warranted the search at the landfill. 

Police say Baleigh Bagshaw was brutally murdered in her Salt Lake City home just after she got home from school on Monday, May 7. The girl called her mother, who was still on the phone when the attack began, according to police. 

French was initially named as a person of interest, but by Wednesday, May 9, police referred to him as a suspect. He was arrested later that afternoon after tips led police to Colorado, where had been stopped and taken into custody. 

No formal charges have been filed yet in the murder case, but French remains in custody for alleged sexual encounters with Bagshaw.