What began as a routine response to a freeway accident turned into a disturbing discovery Wednesday when Utah troopers found two young girls locked inside a refrigerated trailer following a five-vehicle crash on Interstate 15.
According to a booking affidavit, 28-year-old Jacob Ortell Scott was taken into custody on suspicion of third-degree felony aggravated child abuse after officers located the children — ages 12 and 14 — in the back of a semitruck he was driving.
SUPPORT THE FAMILY - GOD BLESS YOU
The chain of events started around 11:15 a.m., when Utah Highway Patrol troopers were working to clear an earlier collision that had slowed traffic. Scott’s truck struck a passenger car, pushing it into several others and sparking a pileup that injured two people, one of them critically. Both crash victims were transported to nearby hospitals.
While inspecting the damaged truck, a trooper noticed movement inside the trailer’s refrigerated compartment. Peering through an opening, the officer saw two sets of eyes staring back. After initially feigning surprise, Scott admitted that children were inside, according to investigators.
Troopers quickly opened the trailer and found the girls sitting among bedding in temperatures hovering just below freezing — the thermostat registered around 30°F. Authorities noted the trailer had no interior release mechanism, meaning the girls could not have gotten out on their own.
Interviews by the Utah State Bureau of Investigation and Division of Child and Family Services revealed the girls had been placed in the trailer in Huntington and were headed toward Salt Lake City. The truck’s cab, which had only two seats, was occupied by Scott and his sibling, leading the driver to put the minors in the back for the journey, officials said.
Fortunately, neither child suffered physical injury and both were released into the care of relatives later that day.
Scott, who complained of a possible hand injury after the crash, was evaluated at a hospital before being booked into the Utah County Jail on felony child abuse charges. Authorities have not publicly explained why the girls were transported in such dangerous conditions.
The incident, which began as a traffic collision investigation, has raised serious concerns about driver judgment and child safety. State investigators and child-protection workers are continuing to review the case.