WEST JORDAN — A 6-year-old girl vanished from her bedroom before police found her body in a West Jordan canal, a family member said Wednesday. Police in the Salt Lake City suburb of West Jordan ruled Sierra Newbold’s death a homicide Wednesday and said an autopsy determined she had been sexually assaulted. Reed Newbold, the girl’s grandfather, said her mother found her missing from her bedroom early Tuesday. "We don’t have any idea" how the girl disappeared or whether she was taken from the bedroom, Reed Newbold told The Associated Press. "It’s a complete mystery." The parents "are devastated by this," he said. No working telephone number could be found for the parents. The grandfather declined to provide it. Reed Newbold said the family isn’t suspected of being involved in the girl’s disappearance. Officers found Sierra’s body in the canal about a block from her home, just 30 minutes after her mother "discovered she was not there and called us," police Sgt. Drew Sanders said Wednesday. Sanders declined to comment on any possible suspects or a motive in the case. Investigators are withholding a precise chain of events leading to the girl’s disappearance "We haven’t come to any conclusion," said Sanders. He said police have "tons of leads" and "it’s paramount we find out who did this." Another police briefing was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon. Sanders dismissed a neighborhood rumor Wednesday that the girl’s disappearance was connected to a weekend grass fire that gutted two houses and drew onlookers to the girl’s neighborhood. Reed Newbold said the onlookers possibly widen the field of suspects. However, police determined the house fires were "completely unrelated" to the girl’s disappearance, Sanders said. Police have said there were no signs of a break-in at the family’s home.
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