Four months later, Libby Stimpson case still open, search continues
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- A message on fencing along the Adams Avenue Parkway bridge over the Weber River, photographed Friday, May 5, 2023. The entire message reads “Pray 4 Libby”. Volunteers are posted on the bridge, watching for clues in the river to help in the search for Libby Stimpson.
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- Libby Stimpson is pictured in an undated photo.
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- A message reading “Pray For Libby,” affixed to fencing along the Weber River under the Adams Avenue Parkway bridge, is photographed Friday, June 23, 2023. Stimpson is believed to have been swept away by the river on May 1, 2023.
The water level of the Weber River in the Uintah area has dipped dramatically since Libby Stimpson was reported to have fallen in the waterway last May.
High river levels last spring, around 11 feet, hampered initial efforts to look for the young woman. By July, the water level in the Uintah area had fallen to 6-feet deep, according to U.S. Geological Survey data, and now it’s even lower, facilitating search operations.
At the same time, periodic search and rescue efforts by Weber County Sheriff’s Office officials have continued, even if the initial media glare on Stimpson’s May 1 disappearance, which drew statewide attention, has faded.
Nevertheless, the precise whereabouts of Stimpson remain unknown and the case is still unsolved, four months after authorities say the 27-year-old woman somehow fell into the river near Uintah while walking her two dogs and disappeared. She lived at the time in South Ogden with her husband, Luke, while family-owned property in the Uintah area drew her and her dogs to the nearby zone for outdoor excursions.
“At this time, there (are) no new updates,” Sgt. Paul Babinsky of the sheriff’s office told the Standard-Examiner. “Because this is a missing person and nothing has been found, this is still an open investigation.”
Officials, he said, haven’t deviated from their suspicion that the young woman’s body is somewhere in the waterway, just elusive to the concerted efforts to locate it.
“With all of the evidence, witnesses and people we spoke to, we believe that she was lost in the river,” Babinsky said. “The body more than likely is either hung up or could be buried under sediment with how fast the water was flowing and moving dirt around.”
Where things go from here, however, is far from clear. Though search and rescue crews have “gone out a few times” searching for Stimpson, Babinsky didn’t provide specifics about what investigators’ plans going forward may be. “Next step is to keep looking and hope we find something that could bring closure to the family,” he said.
Search and rescue team members have searched with drones, dogs and radar equipment while kayakers have also plied the waterway, among other initiatives. Initial efforts last spring were complicated by the heavy snowmelt that swelled the waterway, though the river level has since fallen.
Through it all, Stimpson’s sister Mattie Heiner says the family somehow tries to forge ahead.
“The family is doing the best we can to move forward without moving forward,” said Heiner, who lives in Morgan. “We are still hopeful that we will be able to recover her earthly body and have some peace in that.”
Family members are still getting support from the community as well as sheriff’s office officials, who have maintained contact. “We feel extremely lucky to have the insurmountable, continual support,” Heiner said.
‘HEARD YELLING FROM THE RIVER’
The May 1 disappearance of someone into the Weber River was called in to first responders at around 5:42 p.m. that day, according to a report of 911 dispatchers’ and first responders’ radio activity at the time, supplied to the Standard-Examiner by Weber Area Dispatch 911. The agency handles emergency calls in Weber and Morgan counties.
“…heard yelling from the river .. saw a head in the water .. someone yelling …,” reads one entry, citing details provided by a caller from the Cottonwood Estates manufactured home development, which sits along the Weber River.
The report contains summaries of calls to dispatch and communications between dispatchers and first responders.
“ANOTHER CALLER … SAME INFO, UNK(NOWN) IF MALE OR FEM, SAYS WEBER RIVER, SAYS THEY WERE SCREAMING,” reads another entry.
First responders subsequently assembled at varied points along the river, according to the Weber Area Dispatch 911 report, aiding in search efforts. Along the way, first responders learned Stimpson was the person who had apparently been carried away by the river.
One caller at around 6:32 p.m. on May 1 stated “that he thinks his niece fell in the water at 1730 (hours), (states) she went on a walk with her dogs, her dogs have came back,” reads an entry.
The various entries outline moves to assemble kayakers on the river on May 1 before it got too dark, sightings of shoes and other items floating in the river past varied checkpoints, efforts to locate Stimpson’s phone and more.
The entries supplied to the Standard-Examiner continue to May 2 and end on May 3. In one of the last May 3 entries, sunset is approaching and friends and family are gathering to keep an overnight lookout on the Weber River from some of the numbered checkpoints along the waterway.
“Family/Friends are watching the river at checkpoints at #25 and 26 again throughout the night,” reads the entry. “Portable light towers are up and running. If something is located, 1F48 is on duty throughout the night.”
