Brooklyn Elise Odland Tyree, a 23-year-old Caucasian female, was tragically killed on or around May 3, 2022. A mother to an infant son, she was a resident of Salt Lake City, Utah. Her life was cut short in a remote area of Tooele County, leaving her family and friends to grapple with the sudden and violent loss. The days following her disappearance were filled with anguish and a desperate search for answers, which eventually led to a grim discovery in the Five Mile Pass recreational area.
On May 3, 2022, Brooklyn was picked up from her apartment by her ex-boyfriend and the father of her child, Brandon Scott Zipperle. This was the last time she was seen alive by her family. Concerns grew when she could not be contacted, and a search was initiated. The search came to a heartbreaking end on May 6, 2022, when a father and son recreating in the Five Mile Pass area discovered her body partially concealed under a sleeping bag in the sagebrush. An autopsy later confirmed that she had been shot in the back of the head.
The investigation quickly zeroed in on Brandon Scott Zipperle, who was 28 years old at the time. Cellphone data placed both him and Brooklyn in the Five Mile Pass area on the day she disappeared. Surveillance footage from her apartment complex also showed her leaving with him. Following his arrest, Zipperle admitted to taking Brooklyn to the remote location, shooting her, and hiding her body. He also confessed to disposing of her personal belongings.
Zipperle did not act alone in the aftermath of the murder. His fiancée, 28-year-old Elizabeth Anne Ludwig, was also arrested and charged with obstructing justice. She admitted to assisting Zipperle in moving Brooklyn's body and pawning the firearm used in the killing. Evidence found at Zipperle's residence, including a shoe belonging to Ludwig with a tread pattern matching a footprint at the crime scene, further implicated her in the cover-up. Brandon Scott Zipperle was subsequently charged with aggravated murder and other offenses. He was later sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. Elizabeth Anne Ludwig pleaded guilty to two counts of obstructing justice and was sentenced to three years of probation.
