Private Investigator Believes Satellite Images Could Be Critical In Solving Moab Newlywed's Double Homicide

A private investigator believes satellite images and the public’s help could help solve the double murder of a newlywed couple found dead at a Utah campsite.

Just days before Crystal Turner, 38, and wife Kylen Schulte, 24, were found dead in the South Mesa area of the La Sal Loop Road in Grand County, Utah, the women had complained to friends and family about a “creepy” man who was staying at a nearby campsite.

The couple was found shot to death on Aug. 18 after both failed to show up to work two days in a row.

For nearly two months, the double murders—which briefly intersected with the early stages of the Gabby Petito case—have remained unsolved, but now, private investigator Jason Jensen is hoping to get satellite imagery captured in Moab at the time that could reveal more about the mysterious man who had unnerved the newlyweds.

“We’re hoping that satellite imagery in Moab will reveal a car in their camp area, at least a color, if (we’re) not be able from skyward to notice the make and model,” Jensen told Oxygen.com.

According to Jensen, investigators used similar imaging to be able to determine where Lori Vallow’s children had been buried last year on Chad Daybell’s property, in another case that has captured the public’s fascination.

He’s hoping it could be a useful tool in learning more about the mysterious figure who had allegedly been camping near the women before they were killed and said even if the images only revealed the color of the vehicle, it could give investigators more to work with.

“They are all in the wilderness, so we’ve got to identify the guy by his vehicle or by facial recognition or something like that and they didn’t describe the guy to anybody, they just called him creepy,” Jensen said.

Jensen—who is working pro bono on the case on behalf of Schulte’s family—is also asking the public to provide video or images they may have captured in the South Mesa area, or more specifically the La Sal Loop Road, between Aug. 11 and Aug. 15. He believes the unidentified “creepy” man had been camping in the area from at least Aug. 11.

Both women were last seen on the night of Aug. 13 at Woody’s Tavern on Main Street in Moab, Fox News reports.

According to Jensen, after leaving the bar, the couple went over to a friend’s house until just after midnight before returning to their campsite sometime around 1 a.m.

Both women were scheduled to work early morning shifts on Sunday Aug. 15, but neither showed up to work, giving investigators a window of just more than 24 hours in which the murders likely occurred, he said.

The bodies were discovered in the remote camping area on Aug. 18, according to the Grand County Sheriff’s Office.

Jensen is hoping that by increasing the public awareness of the double homicide, anyone who may have been in the area between Aug. 11 and Aug. 15 might be willing to turn over their photos or videos in case something they inadvertently captured proves to be helpful in identifying the killer.

He pointed to the success investigators had in discovering Petito’s remains in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming after relying on public tips. In that case, travel blogger Jen Bethune was able to spot Petito’s white van in footage she had captured while traveling through the same area, according to Fox News.

Although he admitted the cases were “not exactly the same scenario,” he believes the public could still be helpful in this investigation as well.

“Once we get an idea of what kind of car we’re looking for and we see in this raw footage that somebody else saw that same car, the video is likely to have a license plate,” he said.

There was initial speculation that Petito’s disappearance and the double homicide could be linked after it was determined that Petito and Laundrie had been stopped by Moab Police in connection to a domestic violence incident on Aug. 12. The couple had allegedly been arguing outside the Moonflower Community Cooperative—where Schulte had worked—before a bystander called police.

Grand County Sheriff Steven White later announced that authorities do not believe the two cases are related, but provided few other details.

Jensen said he's developed a “list of persons of interest” through his own investigation and talking with Schulte’s father, Sean-Paul Schulte, who ran a “clue booth” in a Moab park to gather potential leads in the case.

“Sometimes they went to police. Other times, you know, there’s plenty of people out there that don’t like to talk to police for various reasons,” he said of the tips they’d received.

Jensen said he believes “wholeheartedly” the Grand County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI will “be able to help get this case solved,” but said he is just trying to “expedite the process” for the women’s families.

“It would give them a peace of mind knowing that they don’t have to keep searching or that there’s some answers so now they can just rest and grieve,” he said.