UT UT - Vilate Kerreen Young, 1-2 years old, Widtsoe, 4th July 1956

[Mysteries1974]

Date of Last Contact: July 4, 1956
Missing From: Widtsoe, Garfield County, Utah
Age: 1-2 years old
Height: 2' 0" - 2' 6" (24 - 30 Inches)
Weight: 20 - 25 lbs
Race / Ethnicity: White / Caucasian
Hair Color: Blond/Strawberry
Eye Color: Unknown
Clothing: Light cotton dress
Footwear: Sandals
Circumstances of Disappearance:
15 month old Vilate Young disappeared from a large family picnic on the 4th of July at the Newell Steed ranch, near Bryce Canyon, Utah. She was watching one of her relatives churn ice cream near one of the farm's outbuildings when she walked away. Airplanes and bloodhounds attempted to track the little girl, but she was never found.

Garfield County Sheriffs Office

Address: 375 N 700 W Panguitch, Utah 84759
County: Garfield County
Main Phone: (435) 676-2678
Link: The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[Mysteries1974]

26 Jul 1956, 1 - Washington County News at Newspapers.com

 

[agapoyesoun]

I pray for comfort for the family of Vilate Kerreen. Hoping for answers. God bless Vilate's family and friends. x

 

[Murkywaters]

Vilate Kerreen Young – The Charley Project

• Missing Since 07/04/1956
• Missing From Widtsoe, Utah
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Female
• Race White
• Age 1 year old
• Height and Weight 2'0 - 2'6, 20 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A light cotton dress or a red and white checkered nylon dress, and sandals.
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Blonde hair.

Details of Disappearance
Vilate was last seen in Widtsoe, Utah on July 4, 1956. She is from Monteview, Idaho and was at a large family picnic at the Newel Steed Ranch, near Bryce Canyon. Vilate had been watching one of her relatives make ice cream near one of the farm outbuildings when she wandered away. A cousin told the other picnickers, "Vilate has gone up the hill and won't come back."

She was never seen again and an extensive search, involving bloodhounds and airplanes, turned up no sign of her. They only located the child's teddy bear, near the spot where she was last seen. She was never found and her case remains unsolved.

 

[CastlesBurning]

A cousin told the other picnickers, "Vilate has gone up the hill and won't come back."

That is...bizarre. Was the cousin another child or an adult? Why on earth would they be prompted to say that?

 

[CastlesBurning]

 

[aThousandYearsWide]

First thought was the little girl found in Arizona with the flip-flops cut to size. But that case was in 1960 also July. She also didn't have blonde hair.

It makes you wonder though if in a kidnapping case if they are kept for years then killed. I think of that often.

 

[Stella]

That is...bizarre. Was the cousin another child or an adult? Why on earth would they be prompted to say that?

It sounds like something another child would say. Possibly he/she saw Vilatte go over the hill for whatever reason and they yelled at her several times in concern to come back. When she didn't, the cousin made it sound like she was refusing to (won't) to come back. It still astonishes me how fast little ones can just vanish in the blink of an eye.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Poor Vilate and her loved-ones, such a tragedy.
Vilate was recently mentioned in this Websleuths thread:
NV - NV - Overton, Old Simplot Mill, UncRaceFem 3-7, UP10561, Found in a Cave, Feb'95

 

[Laughing]

Isn't there another little girl missing from a family camp-out in Utah? Oh, bother, blonde hair & bangs; a few years ago someone claimed to be that little girl grown up.

ODD CLAIMS RE: Jennifer Leigh Klein missing 1974, Kurt Newton 1975 & Etan Patz 1979

Anyone know who I'm talking about? Senior Moment, Blonde Moment, Covid Moment, take your pick.

Found her!

Jennifer Klein (“Jenny”)

UT - UT - Jennifer Klein, 3, Moab, 25 May 1974

OK, 18 years is a long time. Google Maps indicates a 4 hour drive today.

I get a lot of exercise jumping to conclusions -- what if a perp lived between the two locations???

Just thinking & typing at the same time. Y'all get it.

jmho ymmv lrr

 

[John/Jane Doe]

Vilate Young has been missing for 65 years.

 

[Quoththeraven]

Of two Utah newspapers about her disappearance, one stood out where the article stated she "was supposedly lost". One would assume there was some skepticism about the child actually being lost.

Another article said the picture of the girl that was distributed to the newspapers was a sketch from a photograph of her sister taken at the same age (age 2)

 

[Pipsissiway_Potts]

Of two Utah newspapers about her disappearance, one stood out where the article stated she "was supposedly lost". One would assume there was some skepticism about the child actually being lost.

Another article said the picture of the girl that was distributed to the newspapers was a sketch from a photograph of her sister taken at the same age (age 2)

I noticed that too regarding the "supposedly lost". As opposed to...? Plus using an image of her sister. Wouldn't they have taken multiple photographs of the child? It's though Vilate never existed or she was unwanted for some reason. Weird.

 

[Quoththeraven]

I noticed that too regarding the "supposedly lost". As opposed to...? Plus using an image of her sister. Wouldn't they have taken multiple photographs of the child? It's though Vilate never existed or she was unwanted for some reason. Weird.

 

[Quoththeraven]

I noticed that too regarding the "supposedly lost". As opposed to...? Plus using an image of her sister. Wouldn't they have taken multiple photographs of the child? It's though Vilate never existed or she was unwanted for some reason. Weird.

There is no death certificate for her, nor did I find anything where she was legally declared dead. Of course, that doesn't mean it didn't happen.

Her grandmother was also named Vilate Young. Her grandfather was Nathaniel Holman Young. He also died on July 4, in 1935.

Her father, according to news articles, was Kerry Young.
U.S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current - Ancestry.com

Her mother was Dena Olson Zitting
Join Ancestry

They were divorced in 1970
Join Ancestry

Newel Steed, the ranch owner, was married to Vilate Young, one of seven wives.

Newel Steed (1902-1989) - Find a Grave Memorial

Bloodhounds trailed the two year old 1/2 mile to a dirt road where the scent ended. I didn't understand what they meant "bloodhounds lost the scent along five trails at almost the same spot on a country road" and then police determined that the child wasn't picked up by a passing car.

 

[John/Jane Doe]

Seeing that Vilate came from a large family, what is the possibility that a relative was involved in his disappearance? or that her own family killed her and hid it.

 

[Quoththeraven]

Seeing that Vilate came from a large family, what is the possibility that a relative was involved in his disappearance? or that her own family killed her and hid it.

Anything is possible, but, since the trail led to the dirt road a half mile away, I doubt it. I see it as

(1) an abduction
(2) she was the victim of a wild animal attack.
(3) she went missing and was quietly returned later on.

The newspapers reported her as "supposedly lost" and that it was a "strange" disappearance. Vilates mother, Dena, died in 2004. Among the surviving family members in the obit are Charlotte, (who I believe was the sister whose photo was used for the police sketch) and a sister, Vilate Young. Nothing in the obit about Vilate Young preceding her in death, either.

Could she have named another child, born later on, Vilate? It's possible, I guess. I found no 1954 birth record of her on Ancestry. In fact, I found no birth records of the other children, either. Don't the Mormons record the births of their children with the state? I don't know. They're pretty big on gathering birth, baptism, marriage and death records from around the world, so I would think they do.

In another obit (1996), her brother Carl Young, died of an accidental drowning. Vilate wasn't mentioned as preceding him in death, but, his sister, Esther, was mentioned.

When we look at Vilate and Carl's sister's obit (1985), Esther Young Chatwin, she lists three sisters as still living. They would be Carol, Esther and, of course, Vilate.

Another interesting obit would be Marvin Isaac Wyler (Chatwin), Esther Young's husband. 202 grandchildren and 59 great grandchildren. He was married to Charlotte and Charlotte's mother, Dena Olson Zitting Young. At the same time. (see Marvin's obit below)

No follow up interviews or news reports with family members years later, either, as we commonly see with many other cold cases. I think the last news report I saw in newspapers.com about this missing case was from 1959, where it stated she was still missing.

IMO, Vilate Young was abducted on that road.

 

[airportwoman]

There is no death certificate for her, nor did I find anything where she was legally declared dead. Of course, that doesn't mean it didn't happen.

Her grandmother was also named Vilate Young. Her grandfather was Nathaniel Holman Young. He also died on July 4, in 1935.

Her father, according to news articles, was Kerry Young.
U.S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current - Ancestry.com

Her mother was Dena Olson Zitting
Join Ancestry

They were divorced in 1970
Join Ancestry

Newel Steed, the ranch owner, was married to Vilate Young, one of seven wives.

Newel Steed (1902-1989) - Find a Grave Memorial

Bloodhounds trailed the two year old 1/2 mile to a dirt road where the scent ended. I didn't understand what they meant "bloodhounds lost the scent along five trails at almost the same spot on a country road" and then police determined that the child wasn't picked up by a passing car.

This guy appears to have been a polygamist! What a mess.

 

[Quoththeraven]

IMO, Vilate Young was abducted on that road.

I probably should have said abducted and then quietly returned, since she's listed as alive in her mother's obit and alluded to being alive in her sibling's obits. It happened to Elizabeth Smart, who was abducted and later returned to her parents. (in a different fashion of course)

 

[steff13]

This guy appears to have been a polygamist! What a mess.

According to Vilate (senior's?) Find a Grave, she had a ton of siblings and half siblings. I think they may have all been polygamists. Or at least the older generations were.