WASHINGTON CITY – A body found in a car in a Washington City parking lot last week has been identified as a woman from Arizona.
Washington City Police officers respond to a report of a body found in a car parked near Red Robin in Washington City, Utah on October 22, 2021 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News
Last Friday, Washington City police responded to the report of a body found in a parking lot near the Red Robin restaurant around 7:15 p.m. They discovered the remains of a woman who was identified by police as 61-year-old Virginia Webster of Fredonia, Arizona on Tuesday.
“Our condolences go to her family and friends,” said Lt. Kory Klotz to Washington City Police Department in a statement Tuesday.
The body was found in a yellow Volkswagen Beetle with two small dogs and appeared to have been there for an indefinite period of time.
One of the dogs was already dead when the police opened the car, said Klotz.
The second dog was alive but appeared to be in poor condition. A local officer took care of the small animal before it was taken to the city shelter for further care. The dog died shortly afterwards in the shelter, he said.
The parking lot around Webster’s car was cordoned off with police vehicles and yellow tape. Large tarpaulins were also hung around the driver’s side area of the car to prevent passers-by from seeing the body inside.
Officials working directly with the remains and in the car were seen wearing either full protective suits or face masks while handling the scene.
A van from the Utah Medical Examiners officers arrived in the parking lot at around 8 p.m. The officers drove their own vehicles in a tight circle around the left side of the Volkswagen to block the view of the removal of Webster’s body from the vehicle.
The body was transported to the Utah Medical Examiner’s Office in northern Utah shortly afterwards, Klotz said.
“The investigation is still ongoing and we are waiting for the autopsy results from the Utah Medical Examiners Office, which may take several months,” said Klotz. “With this in mind, there is currently no evidence of foul play or suspicious circumstances related to death.”
This report is based on statements from court records, the police or other respondents and may not contain the full scope of results.
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2021, all rights reserved.
Mori Kessler is Senior Reporter for St. George News, having served as a writer and interim editor from 2011-12 and as assistant editor from 2012 to mid-2014. He began freelancing news for Today in Dixie in 2009 and joined the St. George News writing team in mid-2010. He enjoys photography and won a photojournalism award from the Society of Professional Journalists for a 2018 photo of a bee inspector removing wild bees from a Washington City home. He’s also a shameless nerd and has a bad sense of direction.
