One month after Lark Montague's disappearance, search teams continued to scour this west side suburb Saturday for the grandmother whose sudden departure without diabetes medication, spare clothes or a parting word is steeped in mystery. Friends fear foul play in the missing person's case although police say there is no evidence of that. The search gained momentum this weekend with the help of the Destiny Search Project - the same group that discovered the body of Brigham Young University student Camille Cleverley in the already-searched canyons east of Provo. Group founder Nick Herrera hoped to find a similar breakthrough Saturday in Montague's disappearance. More than a dozen family members and friends canvassed the community by car during Saturday's drizzle, some traveling as far as Eagle Mountain to plaster neighboring town with "Missing" posters.

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     A ceramic vase bearing Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler's name was handed over Thursday to Salt Lake County Sheriff's investigators, who are attempting to track five historical items reported stolen. The items were taken from a storage unit that was burglarized in 2005 near 3900 S. State Street. Inside the unit were five items believed to have been taken from Hitler's Eagle's Nest chalet in the German Alps, following the end of World War II in 1945. Detectives recovered three of the items, each of which dates to the 1930s, on Wednesday. More than five hours after the items were carted out and publicized in a public plea to help locate the final two items, a Kearns family delivered the missing vase to authorities, said Lt. Paul Jaroscak, a sheriff's office spokesman.

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     Salt Lake County sheriff's detectives have recovered what they believe are artifacts formerly belonging to Adolf Hitler. They're also asking for the public's help in finding two additional items. This week detectives recovered three items believed to have been kept in the "Eagle's Nest," Hitler's tea house located at the top of a mountain ledge in the Alps overlooking Germany and Austria. The items include what appears to be the Saarbrucken Declaration, kept in storage in a steel case. Another is a wooden box containing documents on the history of the German prince, Henry the Lion. The third is a document titled the "Ehrenburger Brief" dated March 31, 1933. The documents are written in German. The declaration starts off with the words, "Mein Fuhrer."

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     Relatives and friends of a missing Magna woman disagree with investigators who say there is no evidence of foul play. "She has custody of three grandkids, diabetes and high blood pressure, and she has not tried to use any money," said Cheri Reilly, niece of Lark Montague, 55, who last was seen about 3 a.m. Sept. 22, driving near 8400 West and 3500 South, on her way home from a party. Sheriff's deputies agree that the circumstances of Montague's disappearance are unusual, but there is no evidence of a crime. "There could be any number of reasons people would leave," said Salt Lake County sheriff's spokesman Paul Jaroscak. "You'd be surprised, the number of people who just disappear."

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     A legislative report released Wednesday shows Utah has the lowest rate of DUI-related fatalities in the nation but that DUI arrests continued to climb slightly over the past three fiscal years. The annual report, presented to members of the Judiciary Interim Committee, showed that DUI-related fatalities for the 2006 calendar year rose to 66 from 45 in 2005. However, at 23 percent Utah remained below the national average fatality rate for DUI accidents of 41 percent. The study was conducted by the Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice.

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     Some residents, during a public hearing Tuesday night, urged their City Council not to fix something that's not broken - stick with the Sheriff's Office for public safety. Others said the fledgling city needs the control that would come from self-providing. But while some disagreed on the best method to protect the city's 35,000 residents, most agreed on one thing: Their mayor and the county sheriff need to put personal emotions aside and make a decision that's best for everyone. "Look at all the options," said resident Ted Neff. "Then, put your emotions, feelings, differences aside, and choose the service that will be best for the public safety at the most efficient cost."

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     Salt Lake County District Attorney Lohra Miller made her ideas clear from the start at a half-day conference in a room filled with police, prosecutors, probation officers, judges, attorneys, social workers and others who deal with domestic violence on a regular basis. "This is going to be nuts-and-bolts," Miller said at the program's beginning."We're going to start thinking about how to create a felony domestic violence court program." Miller, along with Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon and Salt Lake County Council member Jeff Allen, sponsored a gathering at the Cultural Celebration Center on Monday. Among its chief aims was examining ways to create a felony domestic violence court and looking at four possible models.

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     Tonight, Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder will make his pitch to the Cottonwood Heights City Council as to why this east-side city should continue to contract with his office for police services. Winder said he expects the facts to speak for themselves, adding that he and several deputies, as members of four different police unions, knocked on doors throughout the city last weekend to argue their case. The relationship between Cottonwood Heights elected officials and Winder grew strained this year as the tug of war between the city's desire for local control and the sheriff's vision for a strong, centralized agency intensified. Tensions peaked when Winder placed the city's commander, Lt. Robby Russo, on extended leave, then transferred him to the Magna-Kearns precinct - without the consent and against the wishes of the mayor and council.

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     A city-run police department could save Cottonwood Heights hundreds of thousands of dollars and increase police staff by 15 percent. Those study findings, described as conservative, were presented to the City Council last week. Results were attractive to the south valley city, which incorporated just two years ago. The failure of the Unified Police Department, Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder's focus away from local policing and the reassigning of Cottonwood Heights' top cop led the city to pursue a self-providing model. "To us, the economics are only one measure. The real issue for deciding to self-provide is the issue of providing the best police protection for our residents," said Cottonwood Heights Mayor Kelvyn Cullimore Jr.

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     Call it rumor-mongering or plain good lawyering. Defense attorneys across the state are now keeping tabs on police officers they believe are "dirty cops" and police agencies with a history of questionable tactics on the streets and in the courtroom. The complaints range from "testi-lying" - bending facts during court testimony - to roughing up suspects and making questionable searches. Some are documented in court records. Others are based on often-repeated but unproven allegations. The attorneys say they are compiling the list primarily as a way to help them prepare for their clients' defense.

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     As the mayor and City Council consider launching this east-side city's own police department - local control is a major incentive - the Salt Lake County sheriff aims to tighten the tether and keep them in the fold. Earlier this week the council heard final results of a consultant's study, showing the city could operate its own department - with three additional police officers - for slightly less than what the county charges. Start-up costs would run about $1.5 million. Not a problem, says Mayor Kelvyn Cullimore. The cash can be found without raising taxes. By mid-November, the council is expected to vote on whether to create their own department. If they say yes, the city would break from the county by mid-2008. Sheriff Jim Winder says it can't do that. "The contract places them under law-enforcement services until 2010, not 2008," the sheriff said following Tuesday's City Council session.

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     Reassigning Cottonwood Heights' top police officer could prove to be a costly move for Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder. By shifting Lt. Robby Russo to the Kearns/Magna precinct last week, Winder ignited Cottonwood Heights officials' interest in starting up their own police force. The city contracts with the sheriff's office for police protection but is considering going its own way. "If they are really interested in retaining us on as a contract city, why would they be taking these types of adversarial approaches?" Mayor Kelvyn Cullimore said Tuesday. "Do they really want us?" Russo served as Cottonwood Heights' top officer for about 2 1/2 years before being placed on administrative leave July 12 for undisclosed reasons. The sheriff's office refuses to comment on Russo's situation because it is a personnel matter, Winder said.

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     Investigators say nearly a quarter-million dollars hung in the balance of a hit-and-run that they now are calling murder. Salt Lake County sheriff's deputies on Monday arrested Sherman Lynch, 59, on suspicion of murdering his wife, Patricia Rothermich, 64, by hitting her with his truck as she was walking near their Holladay home. Witnesses on Wednesday afternoon reported seeing a white landscaping truck speeding away from the area of 2500 E. Haven Lane (5180 South), where Rothermich was hit moments earlier. In jail documents, detectives wrote that a woman claiming to be Lynch's girlfriend on Thursday told them she and Lynch had bought a truck matching that description. Detectives found the truck inside the garage of a vacant home in Holladay after the home's property manager called to say an unauthorized vehicle was parked there. Sgt. Kris Ownby said investigators have found no connection between the property and Lynch, but investigators wrote that the VIN number matched that of the truck reported by his girlfriend.

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     Robert D. Preece - a convicted killer and career criminal wanted on seven counts of aggravated robbery - walked out of the Salt Lake County jail on Sept. 18. No one has seen him since. Now police are trying to find him again, with two different warrants for his arrest. Preece was booked into the jail Sept. 14 after West Valley City police arrested him on suspicion of several robberies and a car chase. "At 8:47 p.m. on Sept. 18, the jail released him for what it said was a failure by prosecutors to file criminal charges with the court, according to jail records. Salt Lake County sheriff's Lt. Paul Jaroscak said the jail is required to release inmates three business days after their arrests if charges have not been filed against them or a judge has not ordered they remain.

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     A woman was killed in a hit-and-run auto-pedestrian accident on Salt Lake County's east side Wednesday afternoon. Patricia Rothermich, 64, of Holladay, was walking for exercise when she was hit. Salt Lake County sheriff's investigators are asking for the public's help in finding the driver responsible for her death. Rothermich was found lying in the street near 5100 South and 2400 East about 3:20 p.m. Sheriff's Lt. Paul Jaroscak said it appeared she was hit from behind, possibly by a vehicle driving on the wrong side of the road. Jaroscak calls the area where Rothermich was hit a "rural area in the middle of urban Salt Lake County." It's an area with big trees, wide streets and little traffic, making it popular with walkers. The woman apparently was walking near the curb when she was hit. She died while being transported to the hospital. . . . Anyone with information on the accident or who may have seen something suspicious in the area is asked to call the sheriff's office at 801-743-7000.

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     The Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office is asking for the public's help in finding a Magna woman last seen over a week ago. Lark Montague, 55, was driving home from a party Sept. 22 about 3 a.m. on 8400 West near 3500 South. A friend followed her part of the way, said sheriff's Lt. Paul Jaroscak. Montague drove past the street she would normally turn to go home, but the friend apparently didn't think much of it, and that was the last anyone saw her, he said. Deputies have checked Butterfield Canyon, and her family has driven to Wendover to search for her. None of Montague's financial accounts have been accessed since Saturday, Jaroscak said. There is no evidence that foul play is involved, he said. Montague suffers from type 2 diabetes and depression, according to the sheriff's office. Jaroscak said she also had a lot going on at home as she was caretaker of her grandchildren. Montague was last seen driving a silver 2002 Chevrolet Trailblazer with Utah license plate 215 LTE. Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff's office at 743-7000.

     Police say a man with an extensive criminal history, including numerous convictions for driving drunk, hit a Salt Lake County sheriff's patrol vehicle head-on Sunday night while trying to avoid another DUI arrest. Ted C. Davey, 47, already had been arrested on DUI charges six times before Sunday. He was sentenced to the Utah State Prison in March 2006 for a felony DUI conviction. He also has been arrested in the past on burglary and assault counts, according to court records. Davey was on parole Sunday when police say he was involved in his seventh DUI arrest.

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     They've taught classes on art and gardening skills. Now officials at the Salt Lake County Jail are using crocheting in their continuing effort to rehabilitate inmates rather than just warehouse them. Earlier this month, jail officials and members of the LDS Church, who co-sponsor the program, presented Primary Children's Medical Center with a number of crocheted items that female inmates had been working on for the past year. A total of 31 blankets, six scarves, 20 caps and three shawls were donated to the hospital. The final products were the result of the cumulative efforts of more than 100 women at the jail.

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