Artifact theft suspect found dead near Blanding

Anger and fear generated by federal charges of artifact looting in the vast deserts of southeastern Utah merged with sorrow Thursday when James Redd - a 60-year-old physician and defendant in the case - was found dead on his Blanding property. Townspeople gathered at the bottom of Redd's long private driveway Thursday evening, many of them weeping, the day after federal officials announced the indictments of 24 people in the theft and sale of more than 250 American Indian artifacts from the Four Corners area. The San Juan County Sheriff's Office did not return repeated calls for information on the cause of Redd's death Thursday, but law enforcement officials familiar with the circumstances and speaking on condition of anonymity said it appeared he took his own life. "He was one of the best guys I knew," said Paul Reay, a physician who worked with Redd at the Blanding Clinic. "He was a very competent physician, he was kind and always doing things for people. "I feel it's a waste of human life over pottery," Reay said. "The priorities of our federal government are badly misplaced."...SaltLakeTribune