Suspect In Death Of 5-Year-Old Elizabeth Shelley Charged With Child Rape

The suspect in the death of 5-year-old Elizabeth Shelley, whose remains were found after she vanished late last month in Utah, has been charged with two new felonies — rape of a child and sodomy upon a child. Both are first-degree felonies.

Alex Whipple, Elizabeth’s uncle, visited the girl’s home in Logan, UT, on the night of May 24, and Elizabeth was last seen by her mother at home in the early morning of May 25. Whipple, 21, was arrested the next day on probation violation charges. He was later charged with aggravated murder, child kidnapping, two counts of obstructing justice, and abuse or desecration of a body.

The Cache County Attorney's Office said the medical examiner has not yet determined the cause of death.

According to court documents, Whipple had been drinking and playing video games with Jessica Whipple, his sister and Elizabeth’s mother, and her fiancé the night before the girl was reported missing. The search for the young girl began in the morning, when her mother reported that both Elizabeth and Whipple, who had slept on the couch that night, were missing and the front door was ajar.

When police picked up Whipple shortly afterward, he told inconsistent and conflicting stories about his whereabouts the night before and, at one point, “began licking his hands” in an effort to wipe them clean. Police said he had blood-colored stains on his pants and cuts on his hands.

On May 29, Whipple led police to the girl’s remains less than a block away from her home, which officials confirmed belonged to Elizabeth on May 30. Her body was found hidden under a tree; Whipple provided a map to her location in exchange for prosecutors taking the possibility of the death penalty off the table.

Whipple’s attorney, Shannon Demler, said his client cooperated with authorities. "He felt it would be appropriate to disclose the location of the body," Demler said. "He wanted at least the family to know...she had passed away, so that they could get some kind of closure."

Demler said that Whipple "knows he did something that's inexcusable."

Authorities said they found Elizabeth's blood on Whipple's watch and sweatshirt. A PVC pipe was discovered with his handprint on it, as well as a broken knife, which had been taken from the family’s kitchen, with the 5-year-old’s blood on it. They also found a blood-stained skirt that Elizabeth was last seen wearing “hastily buried” close to the recovered knife and pipe, as well as a concrete block with blood on it nearby.

In his interview with the police, Whipple mentioned that alcohol makes him “black out,” which leads him to do “criminal things.” He also referred multiple times to “how evil the world we live in is” and said that he struggled as a child and that his family “treated him horribly throughout his life,” according to court documents.

Whipple also has a prior criminal record, including an assault from 2016, possession of a stolen vehicle, and drug-related charges.

Elizabeth’s funeral was held on Tuesday, following a vigil and public viewing the day before.