Police find missing Utah girl's body, arrest neighbor

The search for a 5-year-old girl lasted more than a week and covered the city and nearby canyons. But all along, Destiny Norton's body was apparently in the basement of a home just two doors away.

Friends and relatives of the girl's parents remained angry Tuesday, the day after Destiny's body was found, and criticized police for taking so long to find her and offering no details about what finally led them to a neighbor's house that may have already been searched.

Craig Roger Gregerson, 20, had lured the barefooted girl from her backyard into his house, where he covered her mouth to muffle her screams, according to an arrest record. Gregerson was being held in the Salt Lake County Jail on charges of kidnapping and homicide.

Destiny "went limp and suspect Gregerson laid her body on a floor," Officer Catherine Schoney wrote in a probable cause statement used to book Gregerson in jail Tuesday on charges of kidnapping and homicide. The statement provided no other details.

Mayor Rocky Anderson said Gregerson's residence was searched early in the investigation, although he couldn't say why police failed to find the girl's body then. But he said Destiny died within an hour of her disappearance July 16.

Police found the girl's body Monday night in Gregerson's cellar, eight days after she vanished, Detective Robin Snyder said.

Gregerson has a history of domestic violence, according to court papers filed by his estranged wife. Sandy police arrested Gregerson in 2004 on a charge of assaulting his mother-in-law.

Gregerson pleaded not guilty, and records from Sandy justice court say the charge was dismissed in March after he successfully completed domestic violence counseling.

Gregerson, a Radio Shack warehouse clerk, kicked and punched his wife, once causing a miscarriage, in a troubled marriage detailed in papers filed in a state court by her attorney.

His mother-in-law filed an affidavit accusing Gregerson of choking and punching her when she tried to kick him out of her home.

Gregerson once threw the couple's 1-year-old daughter across a bed when the infant kicked some food off his lap, said an attorney for Gregerson's wife.

The attorney, Delano Findlay, detailed those allegations in a court filing in March, opposing a protective order Gregerson had obtained against his wife. A judge revoked the order and dismissed Gregerson's complaints, which Findlay called fabricated.