Slaying of elder not linked to hate, religion, police say

Police on Tuesday were trying to determine whether two LDS Church missionaries were shot Monday because they had witnessed another crime.

A police spokeswoman in Virginia said the men were not victims of a hate crime, nor were they attacked because of their religion.

Elder Morgan Winslow Young, 21, of Bountiful, died from his wounds Monday evening. Elder Joshua Heidbrink, 19, of Greeley, Colo., remained hospitalized Tuesday.

Police say the men were proselyting door-to-door, walking along a road without sidewalks, just after 6 p.m. Monday when a man approached, shot them and ran away. A suspect has not been named and no one is in custody.

An uncle of Heidbrink told KSL-TV that the two missionaries saw a shooting and were attacked because of what they had witnessed. Police say they are looking into that possibility.

Meanwhile, Young was remembered by family and friends in Utah and Virginia as a vibrant, good-natured young man who loved his church and the people of Virginia.

The missionaries were shot in the 2600 block of Elkhart Street in the Deep Creek area of Chesapeake, Va., which is part of the church's Richmond Virginia mission.

The Deep Creek area is "actually a nice neighborhood," said Eric James Martin, a Virginia Beach resident who was taught the LDS Church missionary lessons by Young.

"It's not known for crime," Martin said. "It's an uppity area."

Deep Creek is on the eastern shore of Virginia and is a popular spot for lake vacations. Its population estimate for 2006 is more than 39,000, the average income is almost $53,000, and 60 percent of the residents are married, most with children. Chesapeake, where the population is roughly 210,000, had five homicides in 2003.

While nearly all of the male missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints give two years of their lives to preaching and living a strict code of conduct, Morgan Young had given his whole life, his grandfather, Winslow Young of Centerville, said. Young was two months short of completing his two-year church service when he was killed.

"He was doing what he should have been doing," his grandfather said. "He knew he wanted to go on a mission early on."

The LDS Church released a statement Tuesday expressing condolences to the Young family.

"We pray that they will find peace and comfort in the promises of the Lord concerning those who give their lives in his service," the statement says. "We assure those currently serving missions or who are contemplating missionary service that the church will continue to make every effort to safeguard the health and safety of missionaries throughout the world."