On Sept. 16, Utah authorities announced the arrest of a “DANGEROUS” fugitive couple who has killed a 26-year-old woman and dumped her body in a wooded area in western Iron County.
Officials believed that Stevie Wilkerson was in the remote area “for some time”. Meanwhile, police investigated her death as a homicide, authorities said.
She has been reported missing by her mom on August 10 after she disappeared from the Claridge Inn, St. George a day earlier.
Two strangers “accidentally crossed paths with Wilkerson” have “taken her against her own will” and she was “being held hostage,” her mother wrote on Facebook.
“Please help me find my beautiful baby girl… they are armed and have threatened to kill her,” Vawna Wilkerson’s message read.
The search for the victim took a tragic turn on August 23 after her lifeless body was found in the woods and on Wednesday, 27-year-old Brittany “Josie” Elizabeth Philipps and her 30-year-old husband, Joseph Edward Fought were named persons of interest in the killing.
“Both are suspects in the homicide of Stevie Wilkerson,” charging documents revealed.
“Our gratitude goes out to all agencies which have been working tirelessly to apprehend these two dangerous suspects,” authorities said.
The suspects were spotted in the crime scene inside a white Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck that they stole from a rental Arkansas company a few days prior to the victim’s disappearance.
They both are “wanted in other states,” for abduction charges.
