Nevada fugitive found in central Utah with allegedly taken 3-year-old daughter
BEAVER, Utah (ABC4) — A Nevada fugitive was found and taken into custody after allegedly hiding at a campsite in freezing temperatures with his three-year-old daughter for a month near Beaver, Utah.
Shawn Ashdown, 50, was booked into Beaver County Jail and faces a second-degree felony for a stolen vehicle and misdemeanor charges for unlawful detention of a minor and child abuse on top of outstanding Nevada warrants.
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According to a booking affidavit, Ashdown stole a family member’s red Hyundai Santa Fe and took his three-year-old daughter from their Ely, Nev. residence. Ashdown allegedly told deputies he believed the girl’s mother was a bad influence on her and exposing her to THC. Ashdown allegedly had done a drug test on his daughter, which came back positive for THC.
For about a month since fleeing Nevada, Ashdown and his daughter have reportedly been staying at campsites, which the arresting Beaver County Sheriff’s deputy noted was dangerous.
“Temperatures in the area have been frequently below freezing,” the deputy noted in the booking affidavit. “That morning when I left home for work, the doors to my patrol vehicle were frozen shut with a solid sheet of frost across each window.”
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Ashdown allegedly told the deputy that if it was a few months later and the weather was warmer, he would have never been caught.
According to the affidavit, Ashdown was only in town to get more food for both him in his daughter. He allegedly said during one trip to get food he had come across a deer that had been struck by a car. He reportedly took that deer back to camp and harvested the meat for him and his daughter to eat.
Ashdown allegedly told the deputy he did not believe the meat was spoiled.
Charges are allegations only. All arrested persons are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
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