On the cold evening of December 9, 2016, in a quiet neighborhood in South Ogden, Utah, the life of 24-year-old Caucasian male Cyle Vankomen was tragically cut short. What began as a typical Friday night at his home on Ogden Avenue ended in a violent home invasion that left two men dead and another fighting for his life. Vankomen was at his residence with his neighbor, 61-year-old Kevin Nelson, and a 20-year-old roommate.
The social atmosphere of the house, known for gatherings where alcohol and marijuana were used, was shattered when intruders forced their way inside.
The attack was swift and brutal. At approximately 7:58 p.m., police were dispatched to the home after reports of a gunshot victim. Inside, they discovered Vankomen and Nelson, both of whom had been fatally shot. Vankomen's 20-year-old roommate was also found with serious injuries, having been shot in the neck, but he survived the ordeal. A fourth individual, another of Vankomen's roommates, managed to escape the house without being harmed. Investigators believe the home invasion was a targeted attack, likely a robbery, and not a random act of violence.
In the aftermath, the investigation quickly focused on identifying the perpetrators. Surveillance footage recovered from a neighboring home provided crucial, yet frustrating, clues. The video showed three masked individuals lurking around Vankomen's house for a significant period before the attack, peering into windows and appearing to handle a handgun. The suspects wore dark clothing, hoods, and plastic masks, with one appearing to be a paintball mask, which obscured their identities. Despite the release of this footage to the public and ongoing efforts by the South Ogden Police Department and the Weber Metro Cold Case Task Force, no arrests have been made in the years following the double homicide. The case remains an open investigation, leaving a community and two families searching for answers and justice for Cyle Vankomen and Kevin Nelson.
