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- Cottonwood Heights police, alongside multiple agencies, continue searching for the body of Utah National Guardsman Matthew Johnson, who they believe was killed by his estranged wife, Jennifer Gledhill.
- Gledhill allegedly confessed to an informant about the murder and burial in a shallow grave, prompting investigators to focus their search around Farmington Bay.
- Officials have filed several warrants to obtain cellphone data and other evidence.
COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS — Multiple law enforcement agencies are continuing to search for the body of a Utah National Guardsman who police believe was killed by his estranged wife.
Charging documents state Jennifer Gledhill had admitted to an informant she had killed her estranged husband Matthew Johnson and buried his body "north" in a shallow grave.
Sgt. Gary Young, public information officer for Cottonwood Heights Police Department, said investigators have focused their search in Farmington Bay.
"We're checking the likely areas off the roadway. Not on a busy area where she'd be seen," he said.
Documents also state Gledhill's phone data showed she had traveled north on Interstate 215 toward Legacy Parkway and was later recorded on surveillance video at a gas station in Centerville.
According to Young, more than 25 warrants have been filed in order to obtain cellphone records "for the car, for text messaging. We're still looking into every viable lead."
A search warrant for the informant's phone indicates he waited six days after hearing Gledhill's confession of the murder to call police.
The documents also reveal a contradiction in Gledhill's story regarding bruises on her body. Gledhill allegedly told police her husband was "striking her several times," but she told the informant she got the bruises from moving her husband's body.
Young said investigators have not been able to narrow down where Johnson's body could be, but are working diligently with other agencies from Davis and Weber counties, along with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and volunteers from the Utah National Guard.
"This is not normal for Cottonwood Heights," Young said. "We lost a valuable community member and it's a very, hard thing to take. We're doing our very best for the investigation. We're following up every lead. (And) we're taking us where the evidence will take us. And we hope that we have a logical conclusion when we find the shallow grave."
Young said the department will continue to search and hope to find Johnson's body before any factors like winter weather can prevent them from doing so.
Johnson was initially reported missing on Sept. 20. Gledhill was arrested on Oct. 2 in connection to his death.
In a hearing Monday, a judge ordered Gledhill not to have any contact with her children, either in person or electronically.
