Evening star., 1961-07-09
Kidnapped Girl
Feared Dead
In BadIands

MOAB, Utah, July 8 (AP).-I
Western lawmen, left without
clues by the suicide of their
prime suspect, searched the !
Utah badlands today for a teen
aged girl who was kidnapped by
a highway robber after he mur- A.,
dered her mother.
They said they are certain
they will find Denise Sullivan
dead, that the 15-year-old Con-
necticut tourist was probably |
killed by her abductor soon
after he fled with her down a
desert road Tuesday night.
While one man who might
have known lay dead in the
Moab morgue, authorities and
dozens of volunteers pledged to
check every water hole. every
clump of bushes for a trace of
the girl.
The man was Abel B. Aragon,
80, an unemployed coal miner
who won the Nations second
highest medal for valor as a 49,
year-old Marine fighting the
japanese on Guam in 1914.
Model Citizen
Aragon, father of five chill
dren and known to friends as
a model citizen, was stopped at
a highway junction near here
last night by two FBI agents.
"FBI? Prove it, he said, roll
ling up the windows and lock-
ing the door. AS the agents
flashed their badges, they said
Aragon picked up a 90 pistol
and shot himself in the head.
He died two hours later without
saying a word.
Sheriff John Stocks said he
is certain Aragon was the high
way robber. He fit every des-
cription, his car had tell-tale
markings and, the sheriff said,
he hadn't been home for four
days.
It was four days ago that
Denise, her mother, Mrs. jean
cite Sullivan, Al, and a family
friend, Charles Boothroyd, SIS,
all of Rockville, Conn, stopped
on a remote road to help a fell
low motorist, apparently stalled
by car trouble.
Girl Kidnapped
The sheriff said the man
brandished a 90 rifle and de-
manded money, forced Mr..
Boothroyd to pull out $3.50 and
shot Mrs. Sullivan in the head.
Mr.. Boothroyd was next, shot
in the face and then in the
hand as he moved to protect
himself.
The terrified Denise tried to
escape in the small family car
but was pursued down the road
and caught by the killer, who
rammed her car with his, the
sheriff said.
I'VE know from paint
scratches found on Aragon's car
last night that his was the one
that rammed the Sullivan car"
Sheriff Stocks said.
Aragon was driving a 1855
sedan with Utah license plates
No. CT $685.. Mr.. Boothroyd.
now recovering in a Salt Lake
City hospital said the killers
car had plates with a "CJ"
prefix. Police had been stopping
every "CJ" car in the area.
In Aragon's sedan last night
they found camping gear and
about a dozen potatoes, ap-
parently the last remnants Of
a food supply. Sheriff Stocks
said Aragon presumably was on
his way home to Price, Utah,
when confronted by the FBI at
the highway junction.
Cant Believe 1t"
The 30 pistol with which he
took his life was the only gun
in the car. Mr.. Boothroyd said
the robber had used a rifle in
the holdup.
Aragon's death and police
statements linking him with
the murder and kidnapping
shocked family and friends.
Aragon's attractive 33-year-old
wife was put to bed and would
see no one. Her sister, Lavina
Esdandon, went to the modest
Aragon home in Price to look
after her and tend the five
children-boys aged IA, Z, 9
and 5, and a daughter II.
my sister can't believe this
and neither can l." Miss
Esdandon said.