Welcome to Arrest Stories. A twenty-eight-year-old Utah trucker has been arrested after his two teenage half-sisters were discovered trapped inside his refrigerated trailer set to near-freezing temperatures following a multi-vehicle crash on Interstate Fifteen. Here's what may have happened.
On Wednesday morning at eleven fifteen, a devastating pile-up crash occurred on Interstate Fifteen in Lindon, Utah, involving five vehicles total. According to authorities, "There was a car that had stopped in the roadway and was rear-ended by a semitruck and pushed into multiple other vehicles."
During the crash investigation, a Utah Highway Patrol trooper made a shocking discovery while examining Jacob Ortell Scott's refrigerated semi-trailer. The trooper "observed two sets of eyes" peering from inside the freezing compartment. When confronted, "Scott looked surprised but then told the Trooper there were kids in the trailer."
Inside the refrigerated trailer, authorities found two girls - ages twelve and fourteen - who had been locked inside the compartment during what investigators describe as a nearly two-hour journey from Huntington, Utah. The thermostat was set to thirty degrees Fahrenheit and had dropped to twenty-nine point five degrees at one point during the trip.
"At that point, we saw the twelve- and the fourteen-year-old girl standing in the back of the trailer with the milk and the meat products," officials stated. The girls had no way to exit the refrigerated space on their own, and investigators discovered makeshift bedding, duffel bags, and backpacks inside the freezing compartment.
"The twelve- and fourteen-year-old, they were scared. They were scared that they were in trouble. They were scared that their brother was in trouble," authorities reported.
Scott was arrested on child abuse charges and is being held without bail at Utah County Jail. Officials emphasized the dangerous nature of the situation, noting "just use common sense, try and find a better way to get people where you're going."
All suspects presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Do not take this report as factual, always verify facts. Thanks for watching Arrest Stories.