Friend of murdered rodeo girl, 16, is arrested for her murder ‘after claiming she was picked up by a mystery man in a cowboy hat’
- Student Gabrielle (Britney) Lynn Ujlaky, 16, was last seen alive on March 8
- She was seen getting into a pickup truck near her high school
- Her body was found near Burner Basin, 15 miles from Spring Creek, Nevada
- Bryce Dickey, 18, of Spring Creek, was arrested on one count of open murder
- Dickey had been friends with Ujlaky for years through the rodeo community
A friend of a 16-year-old rodeo girl who was found dead earlier this month has been arrested for her murder.
Student Gabrielle (Britney) Lynn Ujlaky was last seen on March 8 outside of Spring Creek High School, Nevada, after reportedly telling her father she was getting a lift with friend Bryce Dickey, 18.
Dickey, of Spring Creek, was cuffed on one count of open murder on Friday.
Ujlaky was reported missing a day after her disappearance, and she was found dead two days later in the Burner Basin area.
Student Gabrielle (Britney) Lynn Ujlaky, left, was last seen on March 8 in front of Spring Creek High School, Nevada. Bryce Dickey, 18, was cuffed on one count of open murder on Friday
Ujlaky, pictured, had been friends with the suspect, Dickey, for years through the rodeo community
Her body was found between the city of Elko and the community of Spring Creek, about 15 miles away.
Elko County Sheriff’s office announced earlier this week that they were investigating the death as a potential homicide on Monday.
It’s believe Dickey was one of Ujlaky’s friends from the rodeo.
He allegedly told investigators that he had given her a ride but then Ujlaky was picked up by a ‘mystery man in a cowboy hat who was driving a green Ford pickup truck’, the Daily Beast reported.
Investigators now believe such a sighting to have been completely made up.
Ujlaky’s body was found between the city of Elko and the community of Spring Creek, about 15 miles away. Pictured, Spring Creek High School
‘Investigators continue to conduct follow-up in the case which remains active,’ the Elko County Sheriff’s Office said on Friday. ‘At this time, the tip line has been closed.’
Ujlaky’s father, James, said she trusted Dickey, and that the two had been friends for years through the rodeo community.
‘There’s no worse betrayal than this,’ James told The Daily Beast. ‘Because she really thought he was a good friend.’
‘She did trust everybody. She always saw the good. If someone did wrong, she would call you out in front of everybody. She was going to expose you for who you were, come hell or high water.’
‘She did trust everybody. She always saw the good. If someone did wrong, she would call you out in front of everybody. She was going to expose you for who you were, come hell or high water,’ said the victim’s father, James Ujlaky
In the days since her disappearance, Dickey had posted on his Facebook page how much he missed Ujlaky.
‘Yesterday, we all received news that made us hit the floor. Around 8 in the morning we all started meeting up at my house to grieve an to mourn Britney’s life. Which was taken far too soon. That day I had tears of pain and joy. I wish she could have seen the amount of us that came together to honor you sis. We love you so much. Just know you won’t ever be forgotten.’
Ujlaky had worked in the rodeo circuit for years and her Facebook shows she had a lot of fun doing it