Ethan Stacy

This is a Blog set up for the sweet innocent 4 year old boy Ethan Stacy who was tragically taken from this earth on May 10th, 2010. And whose little defenseless body was found at 5 PM on May 11th, 2010

this is the story from the Deseret News found on www.deseretnews.com



4-year-old Layton boy was murdered, police say
Newlywed parents expected to be charged in death




LAYTON — His mother claimed her 4-year-old son had a habit of wandering out of their apartment in the middle of the night.

But police don't believe that was ever the case. Instead, detectives believe Ethan Stacy's step-father killed him and then he and the boy's mother tried to cover it up.

Ethan had been in Utah just 10 days. He'd been in Virginia with his father and arrived to spend the summer with his mother and his new step-father. The couple had just gotten married on May 1.

Nearly 17 hours after his mother reported him missing from their Layton apartment, Ethan's body was found buried more than 30 miles away in a remote area near Powder Mountain.

Just before 5 p.m., five officers were seen carrying a large blue tarp folded in two off of the mountain with the body of Ethan inside.

Nathan Sloop, 31, was arrested for investigation of aggravated murder, child abuse, obstruction of justice and desecration of a corpse. Stephanie Sloop, 27, was arrested for investigation of child abuse, obstruction of justice and desecration of a corpse.

Police say they contacted Ethan's biological father in Virginia and informed him of the tragic situation.

The announcement of the arrests capped a long and heartbreaking day for police officers who had searched throughout the night for the blond-haired, blue eyed boy with glasses, allegedly last seen wearing Spiderman pajamas.

"Anytime you get a case involving a child like this, it makes you wonder how that happens," Layton Police Lt. Garret Atkin said.

Investigators did not say Tuesday how, when or why Ethan was killed, but Atkin noted they do not believe his death was pre-meditated. Police believe after Ethan was killed, his body was driven to a remote area about 11 miles up Ogden Canyon near Wolf Creek Resort and Powder Mountain, past Pineview Reservoir, about 200 yards off the main canyon road in a heavily wooded area close to a dirt access road owned by Powder Mountain Ski Resort.

Investigators wearing yellow rain coats and carrying evidence bags and shovels focused on the specific area Tuesday afternoon. "Due to the weather and terrain, it (was) a very difficult crime scene to process," Atkin said.

Police were originally contacted by the boy's parents at 11:55 p.m. Monday. They claimed Ethan had gotten out of bed and wandered off again without them noticing.

Officers went door-to-door in the apartment complex asking if tenants had seen anything, checked trash bins, vehicles, storage sheds and area businesses. Police dogs aided in the search and night vision equipment was used to help search for the boy. Reverse 911 calls were made in the area and known sex offenders in the area were also questioned, Atkin said.

About 3 a.m., tenants said police knocked on all the apartment doors again, this time asking to conduct a thorough search of each unit.

Residents said the Sloops had just recently moved into the apartment complex.

"They checked the washer, the dryer, lower cupboards, the bathroom, that's good though," said neighbor Steve Haynes.

Even before the discovery of Ethan's body, many tenants questioned how the boy could have sneaked out of the apartment without the parents hearing the door.

Most residents said they had never seen the boy before and didn't even knew he was staying there.

By 11 a.m., after conducting several interviews with the Sloops, detectives got a break in the case and learned of a possible burial site near Powder Mountain.

"Their stories changed during the process. … They were trying to cover some tracks." Atkin said of the parents.

"Parents are always the ones (investigators) want to start with first in a missing person case. They are typically the last ones who have seen (the child)," Atkin said. "You have to do very, very thorough interviews with the parents."

About two hours later, Layton police announced they no longer needed volunteers to help search for Ethan. By 5 p.m. Ethan's body was recovered.