FBI investigating kidnapping, murder of 5-year-old girl in San Juan County

WHITE MESA, Utah (KUTV) — Unsealed court records reveal federal authorities are investigating the kidnapping and murder of a 5-year-old girl in southeastern Utah.

According to a complaint filed in Utah District Court, Qwana McCook, 28, of Blanding, is accused of kidnapping the girl while she was in a truck outside her family’s home in the town of White Mesa in San Juan County.

The incident happened in early May, but only came to light after charging documents were unsealed in federal court last week.

An FBI affidavit alleges that on May 9, a mother was leaving her home with her two children — an 8-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl — when she needed to go back inside the house.

As she was inside, her son ran in the house yelling, "the guys are taking the truck," the charges state.

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“[The mother] ran over to McCook to prevent him from taking the truck with her children inside. [Mother] stated she told McCook, ‘hey, would (sic) you doing? Lilly is back there.’ McCook assaulted [the mother] by striking her in the face, and she fell to the ground when she tried to stop him,” FBI Special Agent Rachel Butler wrote in an affidavit.

According to the charges, McCook fled the home with the girl inside the truck. While authorities were preparing to issue an AMBER Alert, dispatchers received a call of a rollover crash near Cahone Mesa on the Navajo Nation.

When officers arrived at the crash, they noted it was the truck that was stolen from the White Mesa home. The 5-year-old girl had been ejected from the truck and was pronounced dead at the scene, according to charging documents.

Investigators from the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Navajo Nation and Utah Highway Patrol responded to the scene.

McCook was arrested in Farmington, New Mexico, on May 27. A grand jury indicted McCook last week on charges of kidnapping, murder and robbery.

Court records allege a second man, Augustice Yellow, was with McCook during the kidnapping. Yellow pleaded guilty on Monday to a federal charge of withholding information on a crime.

According to court records, Yellow admitted to being in the truck and not contacting law enforcement when he knew the girl had been taken against her will.

The complaint identifies the victim by her first name, "Lilly." An FBI spokesperson declined to confirm the victim’s name in response to an inquiry by KUTV.

Court records said McCook is a member of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and the kidnapping occurred on the White Mesa Ute Reservation in the Navajo Nation.

McCook is currently scheduled to face trial in federal court in Salt Lake City in August.