WEST JORDAN, Utah (ABC 4 News) – Community members rally around the Newbold family as they try to cope with the loss of their little girl Sierra.
Thursday friends and neighbors were out sprucing up the front yard of the Newbold home planting pink and purple flowers. “She loved pink and purple,’ said neighbor Peter Fiagle. “She was a little princess.”
The body of the six-year-old was found Tuesday morning less than an hour after she went missing. A West Jordan police officer found her in a canal less than a couple hundred feet from her home. An autopsy confirmed she was sexually assaulted before she was murdered. An official cause of death has not been released.
Two days after her body was found police removed the crime scene tape and allowed people to return to the area, but officers continued to comb the area Thursday. They were going door to door talking with neighbors, looking in their backyards and searching through their trashcans for anything that could lead to Sierra’s killer.
“Police have been going from house to house to get people’s profiles and check their background,” said Fiagle.
West Jordan police aren’t releasing much on their investigation, but they say they’ve called in the help of the FBI to take a look at the surveillance video taken from the Newbold’s home around the time Sierra went missing.
Sgt. Drew Sanders said, “Obviously something occurred here that resulted in someone taking her away from her home or her leaving her home, but we’re not releasing what we think that is.”
No persons of interest or suspects have been identified. Police say family members have not been eliminated as possible suspects in the investigation.
West Jordan Police Chief Doug Diamond said, “We have not ruled out anything. The parents are fully cooperative with us. They’re helping us in the investigation. At this point I don’t know who the suspects are.”
If anyone has any information a tip line has been set up at (801) 256-2211.
A candle light vigil is scheduled for Friday, June 29th at 8:30 at West Jordan Elementary.
