Missing woman found dead in Utah; police looking for her ‘violent’ ex-boyfriend

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (KSL.com) — Unified police on Saturday located the body of a missing woman in a remote location in Tooele County. The woman was murdered, police say, and now they are looking for her “violent ex-boyfriend” in connection with her death.

On Thursday, the family of Talia Benward reported to Unified police that she was missing.

“As the investigation developed and evidence was gathered, it became evident Talia Benward was either being held against her will by a violent ex-boyfriend or was deceased,” Unified police said in a statement Sunday.

Beginning in the early morning hours on Saturday, police searched a remote area of Tooele County where they thought she could be. The large area is “covered with tall brush and cedar trees” and was being conducted in “nearly total darkness and frigid snowy conditions.”

Benward’s body was located at 5:20 a.m. Saturday with the assistance of the Salt Lake City and Weber County K-9 teams, police said.

“Preliminarily, it appears the victim may have suffered from blunt force trauma and trauma to her neck area,” the statement says.

The Unified Police Department is treating Benward’s death as a homicide and is asking for the public’s help in locating Nestor Rocha-Aguayo, 24, of West Valley City, who they say is a person of interest. Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 801-840-4000.

“We do believe he is still in Salt Lake County and are asking individuals to not confront him but to call police,” the statement says.