When duck hunters discovered human remains in an area called Saltair near The Great Salt Lake in Utah in the fall of 2000, investigators began the difficult task of trying to learn the real name of the woman they called “Saltair Sally.” It took 12 years for the remains to be identified as those of Nikole “Niki” Bakoles, a 20-year-old mom originally from Washington state. Now, nearly another 12 years have passed, and investigators are still trying to figure out what happened to Niki and who left her by that lake.
Episode Info
Investigators are still looking to talk to anyone who knew Niki Bakoles or Joel Chaudoin in the greater Salt Lake City area in early 2000. If you or anyone you know knew them, or if you have any information about Niki’s death, please contact Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Detective Ben Pender at 385-468-9816 or bpender@saltlakecounty.gov.
Episode Source Material
- The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah). Skeleton Found Near Lake; Clues to Identity Saught by Frank Curreri.
- The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, UT): Dental Records, Public Input Key to Identifying Remains by Frank Curreri via newspapers.com.
- The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, UT): Skull of Murdered Woman Used to Reconstruct Face by Shawn Foster via newspapers.com.
- The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, UT): Artist’s Hardest Task: Bringing Remains to Life by Shawn Foster via newspapers.com. (1)
- The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, UT): Artist’s Hardest Task: Bringing Remains to Life by Shawn Foster via newspapers.com. (2)
- The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, UT): 12-year-old mystery solved: ‘Saltair Sally’ ID’d by Aaron Falk and Jessica Miller.
- The Deseret News (Salt Lake City, UT): After 12 years, police identify ‘Saltair Sally’ remains by Benjamin Wood.
- The Seattle Times (Seattle, WA): Renton family seeks help in solving years-old killing by Paul Foy.
- KSL (Salt Lake City, UT): Family brings home remains of daughter killed 12 years ago by Pat Reavy.
- Office for Science and Society – McGill University (Montreal, Quebec): The Case of “Saltair Sally” by Ariel Fenster PhD.
- ABC4 Utah (Salt Lake City, UT): The Justice Files: Who killed Niki Bakoles aka “Saltair Sally?” by Marcos Ortiz.
- Deseret News (Salt Lake City, UT): Who killed Nikole Bakoles? 23 years later, the case remains cold by Ariel Harmer.
- Profile of Distinguished Professor Jim Ehleringer, University of Utah, School Of Biological Sciences.
- Postcard of the Saltair Pavilion, courtesy of the Great Salt Lake Collaborative: A Solutions Journalism Initiative.