Missing Utah Boy Found Murdered: Ethan Stacy Killed By Mom and Step Dad
Layton, Utah– Ethan Stacy, 4, on a court ordered visitation by a Virginia judge, was found murdered last evening in Ogden Canyon, Utah.
Ethan was originally reported missing by his mother, newly married Stephanie Sloop, and her husband of 10 days, Nathan Sloop. Sloop told Police that Ethan had wandered away from the couples apartment 5 out of the last 10 nights.
The couple was married on May 1st while Ethan was locked in his bedroom with fresh bruising. The couple was afraid his injuries Might be detected by social workers should he attend the civil ceremony at the courthouse.
Ethan was due to spend the Summer with his Mother under a Virginia court order issued after custody disagreements with Ethan’s biological Father.
As reported by the AP:
Stephanie Sloop told investigators she bought two cans of lighter fluid for Nathanael Sloop to burn the body before it was buried. The reports didn’t say whether that was actually done.
The stepfather disfigured the boy’s face and teeth “in an effort to defeat or delay identification,” detectives concluded in their reports.
Ethan Stacy was found disfigured about the face and wrapped in plastic after the Sloop’s told police they found him dead in his bed on Sunday morning.
The Sloops are expected to be charged with the murder of Ethan Stacy, as well as desecration of a corpse, no later than this Friday.
Please check back to blinkoncrime.com for updates.
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Dear Ethan , God rest your little soul , I can not even begin to remotely understand these animals that would do this to a little boy and a mother burns her own child , I am disgusted with these gutter -snipes . I can only say RIP little fella .
He was a sweetie boy.
I have no words.
B
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God Rest His Little Soul
Words fail me what is happening to this world?
RIP amongst the Angels dear sweet Ethan
There are no words to describe my feelings right now. How a parent can do this to their own child is a horrid thought. Bless his sweet soul! RIP little man!
I say hang these two sorry excuses for human beings out in the town square and let each citizen have their little “prayer meeting” with them, I would sure love to have my turn! These cases infuriate me!!
Sickening. I can not imagine the type of persons that could do this to an innocent helpless little boy. My heart aches for this little guy. I do not care what type of abuse or childhood this man may have suffered as a child himself. Nor do I care what mental issues he or the mother may have suffered from- they deserve the harshest punishment for what they did to little Ethan- My God what is wrong with people? RIP little one.
I am repeating myself, I have no words.
The pictures tell the story, which is never going to come close to understanding this case.
He was 4 years old.
My baby boy was still sneaking in our bed every night. How does this happen?
B
My son looked just like Ethan at that age.
No words.
Anyone who has had Psych or Anthropology 101 knows that the innate protective instinct that a mother (animal or human) has towards it’s own child is very, very strong and hard to short circuit.
When you see increased instances of mothers killing their own children in our culture, then our society is circling the toilet bowl folks, some of us trying to hang on to the rim.
Is the price of living in a high tech society that human life becomes
less valuable or disposable, like a cell phone?
Obviously this poor child was beaten repeatedly over weeks or months
prior to his death (bruises). I would say what I would like to see happen to these less than worthless scumbags, but being in polite
company, I won’t.
Sad, very sad.
Just Sad. Hope they get all the karmas they deserve.
Blink,
This is so utterly sad and nauseating…to say the least. I will keep little Ethan in my prayers.
That said, i do not believe that people like these sorry exchuses could use abuse in their own childhood as justification for this selfish act! I am currently reading a book called “A child called IT” about a child who suffered some of the worst abuse in recent history – But David Pelzer grew up wanting to survive and live his very best life. If he could, so could they.
RIP little boy – may your guardians be forgiven for not looking out for you.
OH GOD!!! Rest little man. Prayers to his Dad who must be literally beside himself with anguish at having to let his little guy go away from home to these freaks. I have four boys and this breaks my heart into pieces.
I can find no words either. I feel like I’ve been punched in the gut when I look at that sweet baby’s photo. God rest his beautiful soul. May justice be swift for these animals who did this.
Utah has the Death Penalty and here is a case in which they should use it. I can not even begin to understand how the Bio Father must be feeling at this time, can you even imagine sending your son of to visit mommy and never seeing him again, I am sick and outraged.
Blink sweet story “My baby boy was still sneaking in our bed every night.” My baby boy is 16, when he gets sick he still makes a huge pillow bed on the floor at the foot of my bed and we wake in the morning and there he is all cuddled up sound asleep in his make shift bed with all my nice throw pillows all warm and secure…isn’t that how our babies (even the older ones) are suppose to be?
I will have to call my mom in UT tonight and get the updates on this story.
So sorry lil Angel Ethan
Dee-
There is never going to be a time in this work where I can comprehend a crime like this.
I am sure I posted the story a long time ago about the child psychiatrist I met at a conference right after the Columbine massacre. I was bereft when I asked him how in the world something like the capability for violence and hatred in these boys could could be explained to prevent it from happening again.
His answer: One of the pains of growth I have had to accept in my work is that sometimes the only explanation is that their is some people that are just born evil. You cannot treat evil. You can only protect others from it.
I have come to agree and accept that philosophy.
I am hesitant to say this, but when I look at the pics of this couple, that is what I see. Evil.
When can I write a piece about one of this little souls being saved?
B
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51HzjplYdYc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEf5xIFlTpI&feature=channel
(sob) Is there any way to name the judge who sent him there in a wrongful death lawsuit?? This has GOT to STOP!!!!!!!!!! Why wasn’t there more research into these creatures?
So very sad. I am sickened by this. This little angel is in a better place. This is an example that the courts don’t always know what’s best. My husband is an attorney and there are many times the judge orders a child to visit the non-custodial parent, the child kicking and screaming, refusing to get out of the car but “this is best for the child”. Breaks my heart.
Sick.
I don’t even know this little boy and I am crying. Just when I didn’t think it was possible for my heart to break anymore than what it has over the past two years with the murders we have been following here on Blink, I felt it happen again.
God Speed Ethan.
Horiffic. This is unfathomable. Why? Why? Why? That poor child. Ethan, rest in peace little guy. You are in a safe place now. God Bless your little soul.
And to you Mr. and Mrs. Newly Married Scum, ROT IN HELL!!
I just don’t understand people who do these things to a child!! How could a Mother do this and allow it to be done to her child? I can only hope that there is a special place in hell for these people. Rest in peach Ethan.
Sorry – typo – ‘Rest in peace Ethan.’ These people just make me so angry.
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_15074193
This article makes it sound more like the summer visitation order was from a Florida court.
OMG Lizzy-
Thanks for posting that. If you can stand to read it-
The divorce was finalized in Florida, where they lived, that is correct, but Joe Stacy, Ethan’s Father, had primary custody and he lived in Virginia, so that would be the “home state” or jurisdiction.
What I DO NOT understand, is this article says that he maintained primary physical custody as long as he paid Stephanie Sloop half of the proceeds of a law suit for personal injury.
Either that is incorrect, or something is very wrong here. Equitable distribution and Child Custody/Visitation have nothing to to do with one another. Perhaps he meant we could add extortionist to her resume?
Sick is right.
B
What is happening in our nation? Where are these monsters coming from? Is it fallout from the addiction this country has to prescription drugs? Are they morphing our genes that pass through to the next generation? I’m serious, I just don’t get it…I mean these stories are happening everywhere everyday. I do not remember a time in my 45 years where heartbreaking stories were fighting for #1 for the day’s events. The minds of Americans are changing for the worse. The sadder part is that there is no answer. All we can do is sitting back and helplessly watch. I used to hope I would be a grandma one day. Now I pray that my children do not have children. The odds are greater and greater that the will encounter evil
My son’s named is Ethan. When I heard this, I literally sobbed. I didn’t know about this henious crime until I saw it on HLN. I just said a prayer for children of the world.
I cannot bear the pain and suffering of these precious angels. Ethan, I would have took you in and loved you like my own. You sweet precious thing, find your comfort in the arms of Jesus. The kingdom belongs to the children.
I am so so sorry this happened to you Ethan Stacy. I’m so sorry I couldn’t rescue you. You’ll live on in our hearts and I will never forget you, sweet little man.
This is a song my husband and I adopted for our lil man, but it’s for you too, Rocket Racer xo xo xo xo xo xo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eos7FbtuTbo
Good Speed little man~
His little soul has been saved. No one can hurt him anymore.
A child is a gift from God. What is wrong with people that they cannot appreciate that?
This is another disgusting example of shared custody that should never have happened. The mother lost custody for a reason, and she proved exactly what the childs Dad most feared. I hope they get death!
Just read the article posted by Lizzy. Dear God, why do things like this happen? If she didn’t want him, why did she even take him? He was a pawn to her. Sick, sick couple. A red flag to the courts should be that she finalized the divorce on April 28th yet she was already living with another man, pregnant by him back in December? Unstable. I think the death penalty is too kind for her, she should have to live the rest of her life behind bars, with nightmares of what she did to her own baby. For this poor little boy to be taken away from his daddy and then to be abused and murdered by his own mother. I’m sorry but I do place some blame on the courts. I’ve seen too much first hand judges that don’t understand family issues, that don’t listen to the children.
I have no words. My stomach is sick over this. I am the mother of two boys, now in their upper teens, and I just cannot imagine. May he rest in peace. I comfort my own self by trying to picture him running and playing in heaven, surrounded by love.
I feel like I cannot take hearing any more cases of children being murdered by the very people who are supposed to be caring for them, let alone what these POS’s did to this child both before death and after.
This is the worst of worst, the evilest of evils.
Crimesider discovered the site on Knot.com, where the boy’s mother Stephanie Sloop apparently wrote, in regard to the past loss of unborn twins, “Even though I lost the babies we planned to have, it saved my life. You can always have more children, but Nathan couldn’t replace me.”
http://tinyurl.com/2aybls7
http://www.knot.com
!@#(&$&(&^)*! *$%@!!!!!! (expletive deletives)
Yes, I saw it last night, I did not have the heart to put it in the piece.
B
I am so, so sorry and sick to read this.
B, where in VA is the dad?
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20004822-504083.html?tag=latest
Here is a very distrubing article detailing the couples “love for one another”.
Blink, a loving and kind person can never wrap their minds around this mess, what we try to do is fight for justice, we make our voices heard, we try to teach our children to love and respect people, and weep for those babies who didn’t have a chance in hell for survival.
I am certain when all the investigation comes to light we will see that these animals were themselve raised in questionable circumstances, this kind of thing doesn’t happen over night, people just don’t do this kind of thing, the cycle of abuse has to stop.
Yesterday I went to a local spot to grab a bite to eat and there was a lady, a grandma (what I thought to be her mother both had red hair similar looks), another lady friend and a baby (maybe 2) the baby was tired of being in the high chair and was fussy, the grandma not the mother the grandma snatched this baby up and said do you want me to pull off that diaper and whoop your butt right here, and the mother did nothing, Nothing, I was with a co-worker and I spun around so fast and said what is wrong with you she wants out of the chair she is just a baby, my co-worker was embarrassed that I spoke up, and boy don’t you know I did, I said as loud as I posibly could how I will not sit by and say nothing when a child is being mis-treated I said what kind of parent gets angry at a baby for being fussy and threatens to whoop them in public, I said if they are bold enough to act they way in public how do you think they act in the privacy of their own home, by this time I had tears and I was pizzed, I said it is a damn shame you have to get a license to drive a car but any jackass can have a baby…at about that point in time the mother was embarrassed and Granny was giving me the evil eye and the lady friend just looked my way with a look of “I am stuck in this booth with two crazy Red Necks and a Raging Child Advocate and can’t get out of here, thankfully my order came and we left…my point is Granny was the abuser and Mommy allowed it, Mommy sat by and did nothing, why, I would say Granny use to treat her the same way and that is all she knew…but also it bothered me that the lady friend had this look of she knew it was wrong but I won’t say anything and my co-worker was embarrassed that I spoke up….what is it with folks, if something is F’ed up you say damn that is F’ed up, you bring it to light you call people on their behaviors.
Starsky said “I used to hope I would be a grandma one day. Now I pray that my children do not have children.” privately I feel the same way, I am terrified, how sad that such a precious experience creates such fear in a person.
Sadly this is and forever will be an ugly part of society, and all you can really do is love your babies teach them and treat them right and do your best to protect them from the Evil that is lurking.
“Ragdoll says:
May 13, 2010 at 9:12 am
Crimesider discovered the site on Knot.com, where the boy’s mother Stephanie Sloop apparently wrote, in regard to the past loss of unborn twins, “Even though I lost the babies we planned to have, it saved my life. You can always have more children, but Nathan couldn’t replace me.”
http://tinyurl.com/2aybls7
http://www.knot.com
!@#(&$&(&^)*! *$%@!!!!!! (expletive deletives)
Yes, I saw it last night, I did not have the heart to put it in the piece.
B”
I just posted something similar thanks Ragdoll, I would be curious to know when that was posted and where that precious child was at the time, locked in the bedroom still….I need some Vigilante Justice with this one..
Ragdoll I concur !@#(&$&(&^)*! *$%@!!!!!!
I have no words. You can link to the affidavits here but they’re extremely graphic and they will make you feel sad for a long time.
http://www.standard.net/node/31214
I see so many have said what I was going to type..no words, no words..only tears….
We often speculate on how society has changed and evil and evil doings are so prevelent. We feel helpless and feel that society is a stronger power that we cannot change. I saw a society change. It can happen. It changes when the social pressure is great enough and felt on each person, then it changes. Just like the case with George Huguley, no one spoke up. If we could just speak up and not allow bad behavior not only inside our homes, but in schools and out in society, in social situations. I saw a whole society change in 10-15 years, drastically. Greece. There was social pressure to change from a backward society especially where women were concerned to now, well, it is almost out of control the other way now, but it did change. Any kind of violence and abuse to anyone, human or animal has to be so looked down upon by everyone, and so much pressure put on everyone that they would be shamed by all. It starts with letting bullies get away with being a bully. Bullys and predators are the same. We have too many bullies of all kinds, and on all levels. I don’t think it is like that in other countries, so much. We do have to become a kinder nation to see this kind of evil stop. A cycle of bullying creates more evil. Anyway, philosophiszing.
RIP little Ethan.
Sick bastards everywhere. Poor kid didn’t have a chance in hell.
well, simply put, i can’t and DON’T want to be able to understand this…ever
i have a 3 yr old son, he is the baby…when he needs discipline, which is often these days…i apparently have this scowl that i look at him with, he mimicks me, and looks me right in the eye while i am scolding him, with the same look i have on my face, and usually boldly states…”this is not gonna work for me”…….and i laugh, my wife hates that i laugh because i am only making our life more difficult, with him thinking, that i think, he is now funny…
if this lady loved her son a fraction of what i do mine, he would be alive and well today…over the top sad…
If I can’t say anything nice, then I shouldn’t say anything at all right. So I’ll just bite my tongue.
RIP Ethan. Condolences to those who loved you.
from the wedding page “He tells me when I mess up, and helps correct me when I’m wrong. That’s what a relationship is.”
sick, sick, sick, sick, sick, sick
They are both utter whackjobs.
Not a mention of her being a mother in there once.
B
Blink, I noticed on the wedding page the original date of the wedding was to be July 4, 2010. If true, then they married so as to not have to testify against each other. Little Ethan was still alive when they got married, so it is PREMEDITATED MURDER in my book!!!
Whatever you need, wherever you need it — I am ready!!!!!!!
I truly wonder if he was still alive. He was not allowed to speak to his Dad since May 5th, so I wonder what the coroners report will yield.
I hope her charges are upgraded. She was aware of his condition and she allowed that man to further injur her son, knowing it would cause his death- How the Hell is that not equal culpability?
B
As a mother, and now a grandmother to the custest baby in the world, I will never understand what is missing from these monsters. What piece of their hearts are they without? Why would you be so determined to get custody, when you clearly do not love your child? Why? My dear friend once said to me “sometimes, when the black hats are winning, and pouring over the hills en masse, I just want to move deep into the woods and bury my head in a tree stump.” And she would always accuse me of being an “idealist” when I would say “no… there is always someone or something that makes you realize that home really is the place you would have it be….and, what’s wrong with being an idealist?” I’d say. “What do we have to strive toward if not our ideals?” I can’t say that. Not today. Not now.
I’m sorry little man. I’m so sorry.
Thea
Quoted from the step father (I can barely read it without wanted to throw up)
“I have known Stephanie since I was 15 yeras old. However all throughout highschool her and I never dated, but knew all about each other. Then Just a few years ago as I was going through the deepest, darkest part of my life dealing with My child being kidnapped and being in the middle of a vicious divorce, I began receiving these encouraging emails that had impeccable timing. That was My Steph sending me an encouraging word just when I was at my lowest. ”
“Steph is the Most Special, Loving, Nurturing, Tough, Caring, Fun, Exciting Woman I have ever Met in Real life or in My Dreams!! I am SO IN LOVE With HER!! ”
Yes, they are such nurturing individuals, aren’t they? Please….
http://weddings.theknot.com/pwp/pwp2/view/MemberPage.aspx?coupleid=5526012639731774&pid=8111236
It is just too much right now that Sloop was a lacrosse player, and that this child suffered a beating to the head.
And, WHY would his mother being doing an interview at this time? Incomprehensible from my perspective.
Gotta take a break from reading about this one . . . hard to breathe.
Surely they were using drugs, right? Meth is usually part of a gruesome story like this.
If I were the father, I would be raising holy he** right now with the court system letting the child go to this woman and her boyfriend.
Women can have babies and most have the very strong mother instinct to love and protect them. However, being a biological parent does not mean that the real parenting instict will be there.
My belief is that GOD has a special place for these little ones and they will be united with the caring parent when the caring parent leaves the planet.
I know that our courts are very crowded. There was a reason that this mother did not have custody of the child and the judge did not do his/her job in investigating this background prior to writing the order. This is not the first case of this type and it will not be the last. Unless the people begin to carefully watch what goes on in the family courts, it will continue.
In theory, and I admit not all the facts are known, but the Bio Dad could have refuted the child was eligible for the out of state transfer based on the Mom not filing a relocation from Vegas.
I mention this simply because I think at a minimum we need to educate ourselves about the legal options if someone finds themselves in a similar situation.
B
I want to hear what that &^W^#@)*^&%$ Judge has to say for himself!
What platitude is he going to hide behind?!
#31, Dee:
Bravo dear lady! THAT is partly what is wrong with this world, most everybody turns a blind eye & almost nobody wants to get involved. As stastistics show, most of these crimes are committed by family members or close friends of families. That is why the dangers aren’t reported, people want to belive in those they love and think no way it could happen to them. Yet everyday, we read it over & over.
I have to say, imo, the economy as a whole has so much to do with all of this. Everybody is cutting back, not on just basics, but with essentials that have far reaching effects. People don’t have jobs or money these days. They are angry because of it. The necessary programs out there are not funded properly, so the kids in these situations are given back to abusive family members because the states can’t handle them any longer. I know for a fact in Va, kids are being sent back into horrible circumstances everyday, because the state can no longer afford, or is no longer willing to fund programs that are needed for these children.
Case in point. I have a family member who has done foster care for around 20 or so years now. Just over the last 2 yrs alone, she has had 3 children pulled from her home & sent back to their abusive parents. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for parent re-unification when said parent has done their homework and proven they can and want to take care of their children. But this is not what is happening. One of the children that was taken from this family member was sent back to his mother, who had and still has an outstanding warrant on them.
She did her classes, found a job, and stayed at said job for 6 months, which was the requiements for her to get her child back. It didn’t seem to matter that my family member had this child for 3 years while this parent worked on her problems. Mom finally stays with the course for 6 months in 3 yrs, so they pull this child and give him back to his mother, whom he really doesn’t know. The mother promised my family member she would have contact with this child, until the child felt comfortable enough being at his new home. Guess what, my family member has spent the last 6 months trying to find out if her former foster is even alive. As soon as the mom got her child back, she quit her job, and moved a crack head into her home, but then they moved away. We have been able to find some internet traces of the mom & bf, but no mention whatsoever of this young boy. The bf has a criminal record a mile long, and the mom is posing almost nude all over the net and it appears from her postings, shes probably prostituting. What’s even worse, when my family member notified DCF of the info we’ve found (especially the outstanding warrant stuff), she was told that when the child went back to his mother, they closed their case file and were no longer responsible unless “mom” did something that put this child back in State custody.
I could go on and on, but I think I’ve said enough. I don’t believe we’ve even began to scratch the surface of what is to come for these poor children out there…
Sweet Jesus. God is now watching over this sweet child. I for once am speechless and sickened to my soul!
My heart is aching for this little boy, may he rest in peace. And may his mother and step father burn in hell.
Oh how nice…he played Lacrosse…
Sloop?
Oye Vey.
B