Human remains found last September at Starvation Reservoir have been identified as those of a Murray man who went missing 20 years earlier, the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office said.
DNA testing confirmed the identity of Steven Willard Anderson, 46, who was reported missing in June 2004 when he was heading to a family cabin in Flaming Gorge and never arrived, the sheriff’s office said Tuesday.
No foul play was involved, Utah medical examiners determined.
(Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office) Investigators located Steven Anderson's vehicle, a green Toyota Sequoia, on Sept. 30. The vehicle was fully recovered from Starvation Reservoir just after 6:30 p.m.
On Sept. 30, investigators from the nonprofit United Search Corps and the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office recovered a submerged vehicle at Starvation Reservoir, in which the remains were found.
The vehicle, a green Toyota Sequoia, was confirmed as the one Anderson drove the day of his disappearance.
United Search Corps, an organization that aims to bring “answers to families” about murdered and missing people, renewed the investigation with the sheriff’s office in April, after becoming aware of Anderson’s case from 2022 TV coverage.
Anderson’s disappearance has troubled the family for years, after they had lost all contact with him, including unanswered calls. According to Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Det. Ben Pender, who has followed the Anderson case since 2014, family members reported that Anderson had been depressed before his disappearance.
Pender said Tuesday he is grateful that the Anderson family “has some answers.”
“A lot of work has gone into it,” Pender said of the investigation. “But at the end of the day, it’s really for the family.”
Axel Anderson, Steven’s son, said via text Tuesday that the family now plans “to celebrate him, have a service and begin the healing process.”
“Reality is setting in, but we’re that much closer to healing now that we have answers,” Anderson’s family said in a statement. “This was the final step, now we can celebrate him, love him, miss him and talk about him.”
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Axel Anderson talks about his father Steven Willard Anderson who went missing 20-years ago, as he overlooks some of the junior Olympics medals he won in track, pictured on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. About a month ago, investigators found his car underwater at Starvation Reservoir.
Last fall, family and friends told The Salt Lake Tribune that Anderson was “an iron man,” noting his perseverance in sports and business. “Everything, he [gave] 110% to,” Axel said at the time.
Doug Bishop, founder of United Search Corps, said Tuesday that the confirmation of Anderson’s DNA “marks both a heartbreaking and significant moment for everyone involved.”
“We never truly get over losing a loved one, so closure, in the way people often think of it, is never fully obtained,” Bishop said. “But having answers after 20 years of not knowing is a blessing beyond what words can express.”
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Axel Anderson holds a photo of his dad, Steven Willard Anderson, who went missing 20-years ago when Axel was 15, as he talks about his memories of him on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024.
