A Male And Female Knock On A Door, Claiming To Be Social Workers And Were There To Remove A Child

By Travis Uresk

5/17/24

| Vernal, Ut. | May 15th, 2024 |

At approximately 11:00 am, Vernal dispatch received a call reporting a suspicious circumstance. The caller stated that a male and female went to a residence and began banging on the door.

When the property manager spoke with the male and female suspects, the male indicated he was a social worker and was there to remove a child from the home. The property manager informed the two that nobody lives at the residence. (The residence was the victim's previous residence.)

The male then inquired where the resident had moved to, but the manager declined to answer. The property manager also reported that the suspects were driving a white Jeep Renegade.

At 12:15 pm, the same two suspects entered a business in Vernal, the current employer of the victim's wife, and asked to speak with her. The on-duty supervisor refused to say where the victim's wife was and contacted her to warn her of the inquiry. The victim was also made aware of this attempt to contact his wife and contacted law enforcement. The suspects were seen driving the same white Jeep Renegade. They were also observed watching the business from a parking lot across the street.

At 10:00 pm, the victim was at his residence with his family when he heard a loud banging on his front door. He was concerned and didn't go to the door right away. The victim heard a second loud bang at the door and went to see what it was.

As the victim walked down the interior stairs inside his residence, he saw the male and female suspects standing inside his home. The victim instructed his wife to take their daughter into the bathroom and call 911.

His wife called 9-1-1 to report the male and female suspects were inside the residence, threatening to take her child. It was reported that the male suspect had a gun, and the victim had confronted the suspect with a handgun.

An argument started inside the residence until law enforcement arrived on the scene. When the police arrived, the two suspects attempted to flee the scene through the front door.

As the male suspect exited the door, he was met by two officers, one from the Naples City Police Department and one from the Uintah County Sheriff's Office. The male suspect pointed his handgun toward the officers and retreated into the residence. As the male suspect and the female suspect retreated into the residence, the victim fired a single shot from his handgun into the wall in the stairwell.

The male suspect and the female suspect then exited the residence through the rear door of the residence. As they exited the residence, the female suspect picked up a large metal briefcase and maintained possession of it as she exited the residence. They were again met by multiple officers and surrendered to them.

36-year-old Ty Lucero Whetten and 24-year-old Kaitlyn Anne Bachman were taken into custody, and Ty’s handgun was recovered. Other officers on scene observed another female suspect sitting in the driver's seat of the Jeep Renegade. She was detained pending the investigation. She was identified as 33-year-old Beth Marilyn Marie Schardine.

During interviews with the male and two females, it was uncovered that the child belonged to the victim and his ex-wife. The male and two females told investigators that the victim was not supposed to have the child.

The victim advised investigators that the courts awarded him full custody of his daughter. Interviews with the male and two females also revealed that the three of them had been planning to travel to Vernal and obtain the child for a couple of weeks.

Ty Lucero Whetten, Kaitlyn Anne Bachman, and Beth Marilyn Marie Schardine are all being held in the Uintah County Jail without bail.

Related article: 2 women charged with extorting Utah mayor, making false child trafficking allegations

By By Pat Reavy, KSL.com | Posted - March 1, 2024

GOSHEN, Utah County — Two women accused of harassing the mayor of the town of Goshen, in part, by falsely claiming on social media he is involved in child human trafficking, are facing criminal charges accusing them of demanding a large sum of money in order for them to stop the harassment.

Amanda Kaye Bachman, 51, of Goshen, and Beth Marilyn Marie Schardine, 32, of Spanish Fork, were charged Friday in 4th District Court with two counts of theft by extortion and bribery to influence an official or political actions, second-degree felonies; plus electronic communication harassment, a class A misdemeanor; and criminal defamation, a class B misdemeanor.

On Jan. 10, Utah County sheriff's deputies served a court order "Writ of Assistance to Remove a Child" at Bachman's Goshen residence. In an apparent child custody battle with a 3-year-old girl's father, deputies had two warrants to remove the child from Bachman's home and place the girl in state protective custody, according to charging documents.

The child was "taken from Bachman through lawful courts order" and returned to her father, the charges state.

The girl's mother was living with Bachman at the time. When deputies went to the home, however, Bachman claimed the girl wasn't there and would not allow deputies to serve their warrant, according to the charges. Deputies said after attempts to physically prevent them from entering, they were eventually able to enter the home and took the child into protective custody.

Bachman was charged in that case with obstruction of justice, a class A misdemeanor.

Shortly after, however, Bachman posted on her Facebook page and other social media apps that the 3-year-old had been kidnapped by the Utah County Sheriff's Office and sold into human trafficking.

The social media attacks later focused on two local church leaders in Goshen. One of those men, Steven Staheli, is also the mayor of Goshen.

On Feb. 12, Staheli filed a report with the Utah County Sheriff's Office against Bachman and Schardine, saying he was the victim of "ongoing harassment" from the women and that he and the second man were being subject to "lies and distortions" and that the women were "demanding payment for $1 million," charging documents state.

The mayor said the women had sent a message stating that he and the second man "were being put on notice" that a lawsuit would be filed against them "for religious persecution and hate crimes. A portion of one of the messages said: 'If you would like to save any part of your reputations, here is the offer: (The 3-year-old girl) is returned immediately. You reinstate both mine and Mandy's memberships in full, with our recommends. You get to pay us punitive damages for the actual property damage you aided in and allowed, as well as the damage you inflicted on our reputations — $1 million,"' according to the charges.

Prosecutors say the two women have been making posts on social media sites falsely claiming the two men are trafficking children.

The two women also made posters and "posted them all over" Goshen saying the city is a "child trafficking area," the charges state. "The defendants post accusations on social media (accounts of) Amanda Bachman, Ally Cohenn, and Common Sense Therapy accusing (the two men) of child trafficking.

"Beth Schardine, as well, published nearly the exact texts on social media sites. Both women are making false accusations and threats that affect (the men's) reputations falsely. Both Amanda Bachman and Beth Schardine have threatened if they don't get $1 million … accusations and publications (and) harassments will grow and continue," the charging documents say. "The falsehoods and lies published by Bachman and Schardine have caused mental and emotional health problems, both professionally and personally" for the two men.