Man found dead in semi-truck, Utah police search for kidnapping, murder suspect

TOOELE COUNTY, Utah ( ABC4 ) — Authorities are searching for a kidnapping and murder suspect after a man was found dead inside a semi-truck in Tooele County , according to court documents.

Police have issued an arrest warrant for Jaswinder Singh Dhillon, who is facing charges of aggravated murder and aggravated kidnapping in connection to the death of a male truck driver who police have yet to publicly identify.

According to documents released Tuesday, police received a report on Sept. 26 that a man was killed in a semi-truck later located on an I-80 on-ramp in Delle . Authorities arrived on the scene and found a deceased male in the sleeper area of the semi-truck cab with lacerations to his neck and lower extremities.

Investigators arrived at the scene and tracked down video footage from another semi-truck’s dash camera and a nearby gas station.

The videos allegedly showed a Mercedes sedan arriving at the gas station about 30 seconds after the man’s semi-truck arrived around 3:30 a.m. Documents say the sedan was “traveling very slowly and pausing at times.”

Using License Plate Reader (LPR) data and video footage from several sources, detectives determined that the sedan appeared to have followed the alleged victim from Reno, Nevada, into Utah. Documents say the semi-truck traveled below the I-80 speed limit of 80 mph, yet the sedan followed behind or near the truck for “over 60 miles in Utah alone.”

At the Tooele County gas station, detectives said videos showed a hooded individual with a shoulder bag walking toward the alleged victim’s parked truck moments after the vehicles arrived. Minutes later, the semi-truck left the area heading eastbound on I-80, and later turned back to the exit near the gas station where the truck was later found by police.

By 11 a.m. that same day, the sedan was back in Reno, Nevada. Detectives say the car is registered to Dhillon and security videos from Nevada gas stations allegedly show a man exiting the sedan that resembles Dhillon’s driver’s license photo.

Authorities also requested information from Uber, as Dhillon was an Uber employee. The company provided Dhillon’s personal information, including license plate number and an additional photo.

Dhillon has not yet been located by authorities and the identity of the deceased man and the cause of the victim’s death has not been released.

Charges are allegations only. All arrested persons are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.