‘Sticks with you’: Fisherman recounts the day he stumbled on human remains in West Valley City pond

WEST VALLEY CITY — On Tuesday’s warm evening, a fisherman at a pond in West Valley City began his leisure with about an hour of casting his line before he hooked something — but it wasn’t a fish.

“I found a skull, a human skull out there and it was straight up out of the mud,” said Phillip Morfin.

Related: Human remains found in West Valley pond

Mofin said the pond, near Lake Park Boulevard, can be a great fishing spot in early spring when the water level is low. Mofin said he’d been out there “hundreds of times.” This time, he spotted something in the shallow waters about six feet from the shoreline.

“I thought it was like a ball or a kid toy or something, but it looked like the back of a skull. I thought it was a dog, maybe a dog or animal skull,” he said. “But it was out there six or seven feet and I couldn’t see the front of it.”

“So I took my pole, I had a Rapala lure on it — I hooked it and flipped it over and it went upside down backwards and it (inaudible) stared at me,” he said, seemingly still in disbelief. “Eye sockets — I saw the teeth, and it was a human skull. Pretty disturbing, you know?”

He immediately ran up to his truck, where he left his phone to call 911. It was approximately 7 p.m.

Morfin said the first two responding officers were skeptical until he walked them to the area and showed them the chilling discovery. Later, Morfin said several other bones were found “scattered out there,” including two femur bones along the shoreline. Morfin also said he didn’t spot any clothing in the area.

“There was no mistake about it,” Morfin said. “Once we got there, their whole demeanor changed.”

He said the officers began making calls and their “game faces” came out. He went back to the parking lot to fill out a report as they began to process the scene, he said, but the whole thing was surreal.

“It didn’t really sink in,” he said, softly trembling, “but you know today it’s kind of sunk in, you know. It’s disturbing.”

While Morfin is still processing the significance of the discovery, others are also anxious for more information.

“We never want to believe that our loved maybe you know, gone but … the worst part is not knowing,” said Diane Carpenter.

Carpenter’s granddaughter, Kandis Harris, is one of Utah’s many missing persons.

“You don’t want to think that, but at the same time, you’re hoping for answers,” Carpenter said.

The pond where the discovery was made is possibly significant in Harris’ case, because she was reportedly spotted near the area after her July 2021 disappearance.