Update: Earlier this week, we posted about the bizarre disappearance of Michael Cavallari, brother of Denver-born reality TV star Kristin Cavallari and brother-in-law to former Denver Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler; see our previous coverage below.
The latest development in the story is the saddest imaginable.
Michael has been found dead in the Utah desert.
According to ABC, Cavallari's body was located yesterday approximately three miles from where he abandoned his car, off Interstate 70 in Grand County, Utah.
Authorities say there were no signs of foul play.
Here's the official statement from the Grand County Sheriff's Office:
At approximately 10:30 a.m. (on December 10), search crews located remains believed to be that of Michael Cavallari. At this time, the body is being transported to the Office of the Utah Medical Examiner for positive identification and to determine the cause of death. The search crews were searching the Salt Wash area, near exit 175 on I-70 in Grand County. The terrain where the body was located is a steep and very rocky area.Confirmation of Michael's identity followed, as did this Instagram post from a heartbroken Kristin:
Our sincere condolences to the friends, family and loved ones of Michael Cavallari.
Continue for our previous coverage.
Original post, 9:09 a.m. December 9: A case currently making national news deals with incidents that took place in California and Utah.
But it has two notable Colorado connections.
Thirty-year-old California resident Michael Cavallari vanished on November 27 after abandoning his car just off Interstate 70 in Grand County, Utah. He remains missing at this writing.
Cavallari is the brother of Colorado-born reality TV star Kristin Cavallari and the brother-in-law of former Denver Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler, whose current team, the Chicago Bears, was defeated by the Broncos a few weeks back.
Here's a photo of Kristin and Jay that she shared on her Instagram feed:
We described Kristin like so in a 2012 post:
Born in Denver, Cavallari subsequently relocated to Illinois and then, more notably, Laguna Beach — the town for which her first MTV reality show was named. More fame accrued after she made a leap to The Hills, a program that could hardly be more last-decade at this point. More recently, she's appeared on shows such as Dancing With the Stars (she was eliminated in week three of a 2011 season) and Cupcake Wars. But she remains a tabloid staple due to her relationship with another past Coloradan: Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler.Kristin recently gave birth to her third child with Cutler, as she documented on Instagram.
However, her most recent post features a childhood picture of her with Michael.
Just prior to his disappearance, Michael had gotten into trouble with the law.
On November 23, according to Fox News, a woman phoned the Orange County Sheriff's Office in Southern California in response to Michael allegedly showing up outside her apartment with a shotgun — a response, she presumed, to an argument between them a couple of days earlier.
He was subsequently arrested outside a SoCal city hall with the weapon — which was loaded — in the trunk of his car.
Although he denied any wrongdoing, he appears to have rabbited shortly thereafter.
On November 27, a rancher in Grand County found Cavallari's car abandoned "approximately 100 feet off of the Floy Wash Road. Law enforcement responded to the area approximately five miles south of exit 175 on I-70 in Grand County," a Grand County Sheriff's Office news release states.
The GCSO adds that "credit card transaction receipts also led investigators to a convenience store in Monticello, Utah. Upon reviewing the security footage from the convenience store, the driver of the vehicle was positively identified as Michael Cavallari."
The release wasn't shared until December 5, with the sheriff's office treating the matter as a missing persons case.
Thus far, however, searches for Michael have come up empty.
If you have any information about his whereabouts, you're encouraged to contact the Grand County Sheriff's Office at 435-259-8115 or Grandcountysheriff.org.
Look below to see an NBC report about the case.
