Endangered woman found unharmed in her house

SALT LAKE CITY — A woman about whom police issued an endangered person advisory, because she was allegedly missing from her house, was found Friday unharmed in her own basement.

Veronique Moses, 34, was found just before 11 a.m. in a crawl space in her basement where she was hiding and had covered herself with blankets. Even though police had been in her house for nearly 8 1/2 hours, she remained hidden.

When police found her, she initially refused to come out of the crawl space because she didn't believe they were really officers, said Salt Lake Police Sgt. Robin Snyder. When she did come out, her face was covered in black soot.

The bizarre incident began just before 2:30 a.m. when Moses set off a panic alarm in her home, 800 E. 2415 South. Because of the two-way speaker the alarm company installed, an employee was able to listen inside the home and could hear a man and woman arguing and the woman calling for police, said Snyder.

"She repeated several times, 'Call the police; call the police,' " Snyder said.

Investigators would later learn that Moses was arguing with her boyfriend.

When police arrived at Moses' house, her purse was still inside, but she and her car were gone, Snyder said. The front door was locked and officers had to force entry. There were no signs of a struggle inside. But in the back of the house, there was a ladder set up to an open window, Snyder said. The window led to an enclosed patio area.

Adding to the suspicious nature, the burglar alarm was partially ripped out of the wall, Snyder said. Because of that, police issued an Endangered Person Advisory.

About 11 a.m., officers issued another advisory, asking the public to be on the lookout for Stephen Carnegie, someone they labeled as a person of interest in the case.

Court records show Carnegie was charged with aggravated kidnapping and aggravated assault in February 2009. The alleged victim in that case was Moses, according to court records. But the records also show a material witness warrant had to be issued in that case for Moses, who was considered a flight risk.

Earlier this week, a jury acquitted Carnegie of all charges. Snyder said Carnegie was not the boyfriend involved in Friday's incident.

After Moses was found, the alert to look for Carnegie was dropped. Detectives discovered that the reason Moses' car was missing was because it recently had been repossessed.

Snyder said there would not be any kidnapping charges related to the case. Detectives were still investigating Friday whether the initial argument that started the chain of events would lead to any arrests or citations.

e-mail: preavy@desnews.com