Show LETTERST lETTERS TO T THE THEo THEo- I EDITOR EDITORs s Dear Editor With hesitation and ce I begin this letter but In as much as myself and members of my staff were pub icly by means of o the Vernal Express at the instigation of Mrs Irs Rhea Goodrich and fam ily I feel I must also answer publicly To begin with I apologize to Mr and Mrs Goodrich because se we could not meet their expectations in the speedy reo re covery of their Honda How ever I feel the criticism was somewhat unjustified and would like to present our side of the story and rather than person to person by means of the pub lie lic view This Honda was taken from behind a sign board near US 40 with a key in the ignition about pm on Saturday October 14 1967 The instance was reported to the utah HIgh way Patrol dispatcher Aaron Wilkins at am on the morning of October 15 1967 and given to members my of lice the same day In the article by Mrs Good rich It was reported that the cycle was in a patch of weeds across the road from a suspects house To answer this I wish to state first that the patch of weeds referred to were an eighth of a mile west and feet south of the area indicated as across the road in a patch of weeds Second I further wish to state that officers from my office checked this area and the patch of weeds not once but two or three times and the Honda wasn't there I further report that the Honda had been there only a short time before it was found but c had been b en hid in an area within 2 blocks of the place it was taken from for several days except for short rides on it by bythe bythe the person since apprehended and referred to Juvenile Court and incidentally before the Vernal Express came out with this critical story I want to say thanks to the people who reported the boy riding a Honda Ronda Without their help and the public we are less effective I would like to say that each of these reports were respond respond- responded ed to immediately by not only officers from my office but also members of the Utah Highway 1 patrol atrol and Vernal City Police Somehow we didn't find the Honda and because of the press their of others wanting attention to their complaints and papers to tobe tobe be served we were unable to put someone on this matter constantly J I am sorry to say we just do not have manpower enough to do this as much muchas muchas as we would like to As to the matter of tracks there were no tracks as the ground was hard as cement and Mr recognized this Ise He didn't spend a lot of time looking for something that was Immediately apparent as not existing The boy suspected in this matter did in fact own a lion Hon da and when It was reported I advised my office to proceed with caution for this reason As a matter of fact we were just as interested In recovery of this vehicle as the owners but our experience told us that we must find the Honda first or risk having it destroyed if we contacted the subject first who might get rid of evidence by dumping it In the river or something I personally made at least six trips to this area before and after the Honda was recovered I am sure that I am safe in saying that at least twenty trips were made to Naples ant and incidental areas on this case and probably 15 hours spent on onit onit it Unfortunately we didn't find the Honda I further wish to say we dont don't begrudge the look Ing for and finding the Honda In fact we felt very good about it and heaved a sigh of relief that it was recovered mostly in tact As a matter of fact when reports are arc made to police we dont don't intend ever that the vie vic tim cease looking in favor of police alone I hold no feelings toward the and will answer future calls with diligence and andt andI t I uphold their right to critic izing my office as we are pub lie lic servants I feel this could have been handled differently I I would like to communicate to the that I have havethe havethe the rear seat from the Ronda and it Is available at my office If you would like to come and get it To the public thanks for your patience Norman R R Fletcher Sheriff Uintah County |