Officials identify mother found dead near river in St. George

Written by Kimberly Scott
August 9, 2017

ST. GEORGE — Officials have determined the identity of a 32-year-old woman whose body was found near a river in St. George over the weekend.

Amy Marie Crawford, photo location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Amy Crawford’s Facebook page, St. George News

The medical examiner’s office has confirmed that the body discovered in a muddy wash Saturday along the Santa Clara River near 1600 S. Dixie Drive is that of Amy Marie Crawford who was reported missing in St. George last month, St. George Police Officer Lona Trombley confirmed Wednesday.

Crawford’s body was found lying in mud, tumbleweeds and debris next to the Santa Clara River Trail after a series of thunderstorms had passed over the area.

A man had been out for a morning walk when he spotted the decomposing body and called police just after 7:30 a.m., police said.

Search and rescue crews along with cadaver dogs joined the investigation Saturday morning to help police gather evidence and process the scene before sending the body to the medical examiner’s office for identification of the deceased woman.

Read more: Police investigating body found near river in St. George

“We believe that she was washed downstream sometime within the last few days and they are working to locate any evidence,” Trombley said at the scene Saturday, adding that it was unknown how long the woman had been dead.

Crawford had been reported missing to the St. George Police Department in July. According to police, the last known reported contact with the 32-year-old mother was on June 22. However, some of Crawford’s close friends said she was last seen on July 7.

Family and friends had grown increasingly concerned when Crawford had not reached out to her 4-year-old daughter, which they said was completely out of her character, police said.

Amy Marie Crawford and her daughter, photo location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Amy Crawford’s Facebook page, St. George News

Read more: MISSING: 32-year-old Amy Crawford

Police said the cause of Crawford’s death remains under investigation.

“All investigations such as this, we look at as worst case scenario until we determine that it is not,” Trombley said Saturday. “That helps us to do the best investigation that we can which is, of course, our top priority out of respect for her and for her family and our community.”

According to Utah court documents, Crawford struggled with drug addiction. Crawford had been released from the Washington County Purgatory Correctional Facility in June to receive treatment for her addiction, according to court records.

On April 5, while Crawford was incarcerated, her mother passed away, which friends of Crawford said was especially hard on her.

This report is based on preliminary information provided by Utah officials or other emergency responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2017, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kimberly Scott is a lifetime resident of Southern Utah. In 2013, Kimberly joined St. George News as a vital member of its editing, reporting and administrative team. She is passionate about engaging communities through writing and is dedicated to providing complete and accurate coverage of both anticipated and breaking news.

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7 Comments

  • ScanMeister August 9, 2017 at 8:43 pm

    So sad to hear about this. Prayers for friends and family.

  • mesaman August 9, 2017 at 8:44 pm

    How very, very tragic. It makes one feel the pain and agony, however slight, that family members must feel. May she rest in peace.

  • comments August 10, 2017 at 12:43 pm

    If the body was too decomposed to identify a cause of death, like an obvious bullet wound to the skull, then it may never be revealed what happened to her or a cause of death. If they can’t even come up with a time frame of death that is probably a very decomposed body. It’s a bad situation all around. We hope there isn’t murders and dumping bodies in river beds like this right here in mormon mayberry, but it’s very possible there is. At least the family can put her to rest now.

  • comments August 10, 2017 at 12:46 pm

    And again, since the body was likely washed downstream by flash flooding any evidence to be had is likely buried foot deep in dried mud, but we’ll see what our expert CSI’s at sgpd come up with.

  • comments August 10, 2017 at 1:38 pm

    -she could’ve been murdered on the trail there and dragged down by the river bed into the foliage
    -she could’ve been murdered somewhere else and dumped down by the river bed
    -she could’ve OD’d on heroin or w/e else and died down by the river bed in the foliage

    These are things we need answers to. Hopefully sgpd is competent enough to figure it all out.

    • comments August 10, 2017 at 1:40 pm

      Most people are murdered by people they know. That’s when most murder cases are solved. There’s usually some kind of trail. Random murders would be much more difficult

    • comments August 10, 2017 at 6:32 pm

      and lastly, I wonder if they’ve ruled out suicide.

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