Madeline O'Brien

Brenda and Erica Lafferty; Revelation for Death

American Fork Utah, has been described as a sleepy town. It is located in northern Utah county approximately 30 miles south of the capital of Utah, Salt Lake City and is part of the Provo/Orem metropolitan area. The population was around 14,000 back in 1984, its rapid growth has brought that number to over twice that, as of 2019. Settled in 1850 by Mormon Pioneers, the predominant religion is the Church of Jesus Christ, with the first ward being formed in 1851. A little bit of trivia, Daniel Wayne Sermon and Andrew Tolman members of the musical group Imagine Dragons, are both from American Fork. The neighborhoods were dotted with homes and condominiums of well-maintained yards and the neighbors were a close-knit bunch back in 1984, it remains that way to this day. American Fork is the city where Allen, Brenda and their 15-month-old baby, Erica lived in a small, red brick duplex. Allen left for work early on the morning of July 24th,1984, this day happens to be a Utah holiday called Pioneer Day. It commemorates the arrival of Brigham Young and his followers into the Salt Lake Valley on July 24th, 1847. It was to be a long day for Allen, as his work as a tile setter was taking him to the city of Ogden, approximately 70 miles away. He phoned Brenda on his lunch break and they spoke briefly before Brenda put baby Erica on the phone where she made the cute sounds that babies make at 15 months of age. He did not know that this would be the last time he ever spoke to Brenda and Erica.