The Times-Independent

Sheriff vows public safety is ‘paramount’ following double killing

Vigil held for victims; FBI, state joins investigation


Following the double homicide of recently wed couple Crystal Michelle Turner, 38, and Kylen Carrol Schulte, 24, both of Moab, the Grand County Sheriff’s office has brought in FBI and state investigators to help with the case.

Crystal Turner, left, and Kylen Schulte were found dead in the La Sal Mountains on Wednesday, Aug. 18. A medical examiner said the two died from gunshot wound. Photo courtesy of Bridgett Calvert

As of midday Wednesday, Aug. 25, the sheriff’s office had not identified a suspect.

On Wednesday, Aug. 18, Cindy Sue Hunter, a friend of Schulte’s, went searching for and found the bodies of her and Turner in the La Sal Mountains at a campsite four miles west of Warner Lake. The couple had been reported missing two days before, and they were last seen at Woody’s Tavern at 9:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 13, according to the sheriff’s office.

Sheriff Steve White reiterated during the update that public safety is “paramount” to his office and that he and his deputies were “doing everything we can to maintain their safety.”

A shrine in memory of Kylen Schulte and Crystal Turner is illuminated Sunday night in front of Moonflower Market, where a vigil for the murdered couple was held. The double homicide has impacted virtually everyone in the area and has left some in the LGBTQ community fearful. Photo by Lesley Parsons

Hunter told The Times-Independent that she had set out Wednesday morning to find the couple after speaking with Schulte’s father, Sean-Paul Schulte, the day prior. She said that he was concerned that his daughter had not been seen for days, but he could not himself go looking for her because he lives in Montana.

“Sean-Paul Schulte had been begging people in Utah to find his girls,” Hunter said. “Sean and his daughter were some of my first customers in my store when I was on Center Street, so they’ve just always had a special place in my heart.”

Friends of Kylen Schulte and Crystal Turner gathered at Moonflower Market Sunday night. Photo by Michele Blackburn

Officials said Moab City Police received a missing person report on Aug. 16 for Turner after she did not show up to work. Grand County Sheriff’s Capt. Shan Hackwell said the area of Warner Lake and possible camping locations were checked, and neither Kylen Schulte nor Turner were located.

Two days after the missing person report, Hunter decided to go herself to look for Turner and Kylen Schulte, on behalf of Sean-Paul Schulte. “He needs answers,” she recalled thinking.

A sky lantern that was released by a vigil attendee blew into power lines before a cross wind came to the rescue. Photo by Michele Blackburn

As she searched, she spotted the couple’s car at a campsite near Warner Lake. She notified law enforcement and Schulte’s father. “I stopped my car, and I called the police right then,” Hunter said.

Hunter eventually came across what she believed to be Kylen Schulte’s body, at which point she left the campsite to await the arrival of sheriff’s deputies. Hunter said she struggled to tell Sean-Paul what she had found because he and she were both “devastated” by the circumstances.

“He was like, ‘get back in your [expletive] car, roll up your windows now, lock your doors, get out of there — you need to get out of there,’” Hunter recalled.

Hackwell said that the sheriff’s office received a report around 11:30 a.m. that day that the bodies of the two had been found. He said investigators contacted a nearby lodging business, as well as patrons who were there the days the couple was missing, for information.

Shane Huggar of Moonflower Market tunes his guitar before playing a song in honor of his late coworker, Kylen Schulte, and Schulte’s spouse, Crystal Turner. Photo by Michele Blackburn

Hunter, who was emotional during the interview, said that she felt a “motherly” connection with Schulte, who worked at Moonflower Market. Hunter said she “just glowed” and was “effervescent.” Hunter did not know Turner as well, but said she was “a beautiful soul.”

“Her genuine kindness, radiant energy, and tireless work ethic touched the lives of countless people and will be deeply missed by Moonflower and the Moab community,” read a statement from the company’s Facebook page Thursday.

Grand County Sheriff’s Capt. Shan Hackwell speaks to reporters and onlookers Tuesday afternoon during a press conference regarding the murder of two Moab women. Photo by Doug McMurdo

“They didn’t deserve this,” Hunter said.

Hackwell said the sheriff’s office has investigated three separate, unattended deaths over the past year and ruled that none were homicides. He stressed that there was no evidence to suggest the cases were connected to each other or to the double homicide of Turner and Kylen Schulte.

Officials ask that anybody with information that can assist in the investigation provide it to the Grand County Sheriff’s Office at 435-259-8115.

Note: The name of a nearby business not suspected to be involved in the case has been removed from this story.