FOUND: 17-year-old McKenzie Scholzen found safe; 3 arrests made

August 8, 2018 Utah Channel 3

ST. GEORGE — Thanks to the power of social media and tips to the Santa Clara-Ivins Police Department, McKenzie Scholzen, 17, who went missing Monday night has been found safe.

Scholzen was located inside The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel on Main Street in Enterprise Thursday morning, said Sgt. Jaron Studly, public information officer for Santa Clara-Ivins Police Department.

Studly said the police department had received information that Scholzen went on a road trip to Eureka, California, with three adults.

“We couldn’t release (the information) because we weren’t 100 percent sure that she had gone on the road trip with the adults,” Studly said.

Detectives were able to track where the adults were through the use of a debit card from one of the three who had a joint account with a parent. Detectives were able to see GPS pins of where they used the card and when they were on their way back, something which Studly said was the result of online attention to Scholzen’s disappearance.

“They were on their way back,” he said. “They felt the pressure of the media, social media, friends and everyone was asking ‘Where are you?‘”

Officers from the department spotted the vehicle driving on state Route 18 Wednesday night, he said, and they made a traffic stop inside Snow Canyon State Park and found two of the adults in the vehicle: Diego Wellhoff and Luis Rockwood.

Studly said the men dropped off Scholzen and another woman, Lydia Probst, in Enterprise. Probst called her mom, who in turn called the police around 1:15 a.m. Thursday. A detective was then able to locate Scholzen inside the LDS church around 5:40 a.m.

Probst and Wellhoff were both arrested and charged with obstruction of justice and harboring a runaway juvenile. Rockwood was only arrested for a current warrant, Studly said, because he was “forthcoming” and assisted the officers in getting the information they needed to locate Scholzen. However, Studly said the police department will be forwarding charges to the Washington County Attorney’s office for review for harboring a runaway juvenile.

Scholzen’s father, Jeff Scholzen, posted on Facebook Tuesday asking for the public’s help in locating his daughter, who he said went for a walk around 10 p.m. Monday and didn’t return.

“She said she was going for a walk and didn’t come back and may not be in a good place mentally or physically right now,” the post read.

Studly said the police department is grateful for the public’s support in sharing posts about Scholzen missing.

“We got a ton of information on where people believed they were, and it helped us,” he said.

Email: mheckenliable@stgnews.com

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