A man suspected of having sex with 15-year-old Utah girl and named as the key suspect in her murder, has been arrested.
Baleigh Bagshaw, 15, was found dead at her Salt Lake City home on Monday, sparking a national manhunt for Shaun French, 24, who is accused of having a sexual relationship with her.
French was tracked down and arrested Wednesday in southeast Colorado.
He has been charged with three counts of third-degree felony unlawful sexual activity with a minor, and has been named as a suspect in her murder by police.
Shaun French, 24, (pictured in his mugshot, left) is accused of having sex with 15-year-old Baleigh Bagshaw (right) who was murdered at her home in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Monday
The teen had been returning from school, and was chatting to her mother on the phone when she was ‘brutally attacked’ and killed, police said.
Her mother heard part of the assault before the line went silent. She alerted a neighbor, who went round to check on Baleigh before alerting police, who found her dead at just after 3pm.
Baleigh always phoned her mother when she got home from West High school, Deseret News reported.
She was meant to be working at Leatherby’s Family Creamery, an ice-cream shop, but her mother phoned to say she could not come in due to a ‘family emergency’.
Co-worker Gwendolyn Robinson described the teenager as ‘very sweet’, adding: ‘She worked very hard. She was a good girl.
‘I expect her to be walking into work still. It’s not computing.’
Salt Lake Police Sgt. Brandon Shearer said: ‘While she was on the phone with her mother, she was brutally attacked while inside of her home.
Shaun French, 24, (left) has been named as a person of interest in the teenager’s (right) death, stemming from an unlawful sexual encounter he is accused of having with her
‘Her mother heard the attack going on and then the phone went dead. At that time, the mother called a neighbor to go check on Baleigh.
‘I can’t even guess what the mother would be going through right now. Our hearts and thoughts are with her.’
Shearer called it a ‘very violent attack’ but police have not yet released a cause of death.
Police said that certain ‘evidence’ was ‘widely spread throughout the home and throughout the area.’
French used to live in the same house as Baleigh but was not living there at the time of her death. He’d moved in with the family in February 2017, when Bagshaw was 14 years old and he was 23 years old.
A relative of Bagshaw told police they saw French having sexual relations with the girl on three occasions.
Baleigh enjoyed building props and sets at West High’s theater.
French is thought to be driving a camouflage-painted Daihatsu SUV with a Wyoming license plate number 19-13974 along the Interstate 80 towards Cleveland, Ohio
French, who is now on the run, used to live in the same house as Baleigh but was not living there at the time of her death
Friend Talia Zamir, 15, said: ‘She was incredibly smart and talented and she always got along with people around her. She was really friendly and nice.
‘And that’s what makes everything so heartbreaking, honestly.’
Sister-in-law Nichole Newman Cannon wrote: ‘I will always remember the funny jokes at the times I needed my head lifted up.
‘You will be greatly missed by your siblings. Love and miss you!’
French was described as ‘armed and dangerous’ and is being hunted on three counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor.
His Facebook page says he works at Intermountain Plantings Inc. and attended high school in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.
He is thought to be driving a camouflage-painted Daihatsu SUV with a Wyoming license plate number 19-13974 along the Interstate 80 towards Cleveland, Ohio.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise funds Baleigh’s funeral expenses. The total is currently approaching $9,000.
French is being held in Colorado and is due to be extradited.