August 25, 2021
Lesbian Couple Found Dead after Voicing Worries about 'Creepy Guy'
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
A newlywed lesbian couple were camping in Moab, Utah, when they were shot to death. Shortly before they died, they had voiced concerns about a "creepy guy" who was camping nearby, NBC News reports.
The bodies of Crystal Michelle Turner, 38, and her wife, Kylen Carrol Schulte, 24, were found on Aug. 18, the news report said. They were last seen alive in Moab on Aug. 14, when they told friends about a "weirdo camping near them" who "was freaking them out," NBC News said.
"We were just having a great time, having a couple drinks, and all they said was there was a creep [staying] next to them," friend of the couple Kayla Borza related, according to a story at the Daily Beast. "And that was it."
Bridget Calvert, the aunt of Kylen Schulte, echoed that account, telling NBC News, "They said they needed to move their campsite because of some creepy guy at their campsite."
"These are outdoors girls, and they're independent and confident," Calvert added. "And for somebody to make them feel uncomfortable, it had to be a very valid discomfort."
Calvert noted that the women lived in a van and were always on the move from campsite to campsite. "That's how they lived," Calvert said. "They enjoyed life and didn't worry about material things."
"Friends and co-workers started worrying about them when Turner missed work and Schulte was a no-show at her job," NBC News said.
"The bodies of the two women were found in the South Mesa area of La Sal Loop Road on Wednesday, according to the sheriff's office," news station KSL detailed. "They were taken to the state medical examiner's office to determine the causes of death."
The coroner advised that the women had been murdered by an unknown assailant. The cause of death was gunshot wounds.
Video footage showing the women meeting their friends at the tavern was released to authorities, NBC and the Daily Beast both reported, but the tavern's management said in a statement that "At no time were they approached by anyone except my staff and the entire time they were relaxed and enjoying their time with their friends and each other."
The statement added: "These two women were very much in love with each other and their focus and attention were always on each other."
There was nothing in reports to indicate that the double homicide was being investigated as a hate crime.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
