PAYSON, Utah (ABC 4 News) - Retired BYU professor Kay Sherman Mortensen appears to have been murdered in his Payson home Monday night, only one week after returning from serving an LDS mission.
“We don’t know them very well because they only got back from their mission last week,” said one neighbor of the Mortensen’s home located at 11705 Canyon Road in Payson Canyon.
Mortensen and his wife served a one-year mission at the LDS Cove Fort Visitors Center in Southern Utah. Neighbors said Mrs. Mortensen was not at home at the time of the alleged home invasion because she was with her daughter who was giving birth in Salt Lake City.
Investigators remain tight lipped about the details of the Monday night home invasion and murder. “This is a complex case with many leads and few answers,” said Utah County Lt. Mike Brower. Brower would not release the name of the victim on Tuesday night because he had not yet contacted all the family members. “This is a large family and it is taking us some time,” he said.
But the faculty in the BYU Mechanical Engineering Department received an email Tuesday morning informing then about Mortensen’s death. “This is a big shock, something you would never expect to happen,” said Tim McLian, Chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Mortensen retired from BYU 4 years ago. “He seemed to embrace retirement and we didn’t see him much,” McLain said. “I think we will remember him as someone who enjoyed his job, liked to tell stories and had a good sense of humor.”
Utah County investigators declined to answer any questions about the break in or murder, or confirm rumors about how Mortensen died. The only new information released by investigators on Tuesday came in the form of a plea from police to a mysterious person who called the Utah County Dispatch Center on Monday night and then hung up. “We believe this persons has important information in this case,” said Public Information Officer Derrin Gilbert. “We would like to talk with you again and hope that you will call us back.”
On Monday night police said they were looking for two men, both about 5’8” with black hair. The two reportedly fled the home in a blue car with a hatchback. Deputies at the scene released a license plate, but investigators said they are no longer looking for that vehicle. Officers would not confirm earlier reports that the suspects had taken guns and ammunition from the Mortensen Home.
