FARMINGTON—Someone has been stealing Girl Scout cookies and the second graders at Canyon Creek Elementary are investigating. Having been sworn in as official junior agents by Shohini “Sho” Sinha, FBI Special Agent in Charge at the Salt Lake City Field Office, the kids went to work processing the crime scene at different stations, analyzing shoe prints, fingerprints, clothing fibers and other evidence.

The visit from the FBI came about when a second grade student wrote a letter of appreciation to the division. “Thank you so much for keeping us safe from criminals and risking your lives and putting them on the line,” the letter said. 

“We are so proud of you,” said Michera Dobbs, Community Outreach Specialist to Uriah Mulee who wrote the letter. “Your teachers have told us things about you and how you’re a leader to your students and to your peers and so we wanted to come here and surprise you. We thank you and hope that one day you’ll join us at the FBI.”

Kids review evidence they found as part of the investigation during a visit from the FBI. Photo by Roger V. Tuttle

“Thank you Uriah for having us here today and writing the letter to us,” said Sinha. “We work every day to help keep communities safe. We do a lot of work to help stop crime and investigate crimes but we also like to come out to communities and talk to people about how to stay safe.”

Dobbs gave the kids an overview of the cookie case. “So we’ve worked with the Girl Scouts and we’ve had a couple of troops try to help us figure it out,” she said. “On March 25, 2022 the FBI received information regarding a series of thefts taking place at two Girl Scouts of America facilities. At each location the suspect entered the facility through the side door and stole cases of Girl Scout cookies from the meeting room where the cookies were stored for pickup by the Girl Scout leaders. We received information from a source identifying three potential suspects.”

The source has recently attended parties at all three of the subjects’ homes where they noticed an abundance of snacks such as Girl Scout cookies at the party, Dobbs said. “The source found this odd because they hadn’t started selling cookies yet.”

Dobbs gave a description and background of each suspect to the kids then they tried to guess who the thief was. “So based on the information provided by our source we executed search warrants of each of the subjects’ homes to look for evidence,” she said. “So what you guys see in your classroom is actually a replica of what we already found. We need you guys to analyze the things that we found and tell us who the true suspect is.”

The kids went through six stations to inspect the evidence with the help of supervisory special agents.

Second graders look for clues inside the crime scene tape. Photos by Roger V. Tuttle

“When the FBI reached out to our elementary school we didn’t believe it was real, we thought it was a scam,” said Canyon Creek Elementary Principal Julie Ferreira. “We actually asked Michera ‘can you prove that you’re part of the FBI’ and she said ‘absolutely.’ The team called her and she showed them her badge. Then we knew we could go forward.”

Uriah wrote the letter and took it home, she said. “His mom said, ‘how will they ever know that you wrote the letter?’ So he and his mom searched the internet for what the address was for the FBI. So then they sent the letter.”

 At first they thought they were going to send maybe one person from the FBI to come in person, said Ferreira. “But they were like ‘no, we’re making this a teaching moment. We’re going to come and teach them how to investigate.’ We’re just lucky enough to be here and experience what they brought.”

“I really wanted to honor Uriah and thank him for writing his letter,” said Dobbs. “I was very touched. And then also I wanted to include his classmates as well so we can show them that they can have this opportunity when they grow up. And there are different things they can do that they might not think about at this age. So I was really excited to receive the letter. It really touched my heart.”