Sorrow for Destiny: Man accused in her slaying had participated in search

"We're sitting out here at the picnic table talking with him and the federal marshals and everything," he said. "We all filled out questionnaires together."

A history of violence

Gregerson's estranged wife, Catherine "Cadie" Gregerson, said she did not believe he could have killed the little girl, saying she would remain supportive of her husband. She said as much when she called a talk show on KSL Radio. (See related story).

"If he's guilty, I'm not going to stand by him," she told the Deseret Morning News afterward. "If he's not, I'll still stand by him."

Cadie Gregerson went near her estranged husband's house on Tuesday, surrounded by several police officers. She waited across the street as officers retrieved mail. The Gregersons have a 1-year-old daughter, but Cadie Gregerson does not live with her husband.

Throughout the week, Wood saw Gregerson but did not think his demeanor was any different than anyone else dealing with the disappearance of the little girl next door.

"I just took it he was as screwed up as the rest of us over this whole ordeal," he said. "We didn't know she was right here the whole (expletive) time."

Others who knew Gregerson said they were stunned by his arrest. Monica Evans lived above the Gregersons in a Liberty Park-area apartment in 2005. She described Gregerson as "kind of strange."

"He never really talked," she said.

Evans said the only trouble was one night when she heard Cadie Gregerson screaming from her apartment. She opened the door and said she saw Gregerson bleeding from her head.

Outside the Norton home Monday night, heartbreak turned to anger and outrage over Destiny's death and spilled out into the streets. Hundreds of people showed up outside the home. Some screamed at police officers still investigating the crime scene at Gregerson's apartment.

Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank came to address the angry mob.

"This individual cooperated on all different levels," he said Monday night. "We had to wait until significant probable cause to obtain a warrant . . . we did not know this was a crime scene until now."

At the volunteer search headquarters, located at an LDS ward on Harvard Avenue, the massive effort was being dismantled.

Hundreds of people turned out for eight days in the heat, searching through alleys and back yards, going through garbage and peeking in bushes.

Search organizers dropped off food and water at the family's home — items left over from the massive volunteer effort.

Shane Siwik, who helped organize the search for Destiny, said he was "numb" at the news of her death. His own daughter had been kidnapped and recovered, thanks to volunteer searchers.

"It was an incredible effort by the community to show up and look," he said Tuesday. "I hope as they see the outcome that nobody has any regrets. Ultimately, there's one person to blame more than anybody else."

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Contributing: Wendy Leonard.

E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com; preavy@desnews.com