Two girls found inside a refrigerated semi trailer after a crash near Lindon were later identified as half-siblings of the driver, raising concerns about the danger of traveling in a 30-degree truck with no way out.
Jacob Ortell Scott, 28, was arrested on suspicion of third-degree felony aggravated child abuse.
Lt. Cameron Roden with Utah Highway Patrol noted they were all siblings and clarified they were not being trafficked.
A trooper at the scene saw someone looking at him from the trailer.
“He noticed a set of eyes that were looking out at him,” said Lt. Clay Morgan “At that point, we saw the 12- and the 14-year-old girl standing in the back of the trailer with the milk and the meat products.”
The girls, half-siblings of the driver, Jacob Ortell Scott, and his passenger, were traveling to Salt Lake from Huntington to visit their older sister.
“They were not being transported against their will,” said Morgan. “We initially thought that, especially when we saw they had several duffel bags, some backpacks.”
Officials said this method of travel is extremely dangerous.
“Had something happened where the driver and the passenger were incapable of talking or otherwise injured,” said Morgan. “Then these girls could have stayed in the back of that trailer for a long time.”
What happened?
Several people were injured on Wednesday in a crash on northbound I-15.
According to Roden, Scott was driving a tractor-trailer, originally described as a dump truck. The tractor-trailer lost its tire, which bounced over the wall and hit two vehicles, resulting in minor injuries.
As the tractor-trailer was stopped, a semi-truck rear-ended a passenger car and pushed it into several vehicles.
Troopers with Utah Highway Patrol investigated the crash. One trooper said he noticed “two sets of eyes” in the trailer, the affidavit states.
The trooper went back and asked Scott who it was.
“Scott looked surprised but then told the Trooper there were kids in the trailer,” the affidavit states.
Troopers opened the trailer and found two young girls inside, aged 12 and 14.
“There was no way for the girls to exit,” the affidavit said.
Agents with the Utah State Bureau of Investigation and personnel from the Department of Child and Family Services found the girls had been in the trailer since they left Huntington, Utah. They were headed to Salt Lake City, nearly two hours away.
The thermostat inside the trailer was set at 30 degrees Fahrenheit. At one point, the thermostat showed the temperature to be 29.5 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Scott was arrested and booked in the Utah County Jail.