Scores of police officers and hundreds of citizens searched for five-year-old Destiny Norton for eight days in the Salt Lake City area, yet her body was found just 150 feet from where she disappeared in an apartment police had previously searched, says the Salt Lake Tribune. A crowd in the area that included Norton’s relatives, friends, and neighbors shouted profanities and accused police of not doing their job.
Though police were not talking on Tuesday, Mayor Rocky Anderson defended the police department, saying the criticism is undeserved. He said evidence yet to be disclosed will explain the police’s failure to locate Destiny’s body immediately. Bill Hammond of the Vanished Children’s Alliance in San Jose, Ca., said it can’t be assumed police made mistakes just because Destiny was found so close to home. A 20-year-old man living nearby was arrested.