Key facts
- Name: Matthew Johnson
- Age at disappearance: 51
- Last seen: September 20, 2024
- Location: Home in Cottonwood Heights, Utah
- Height / build: Adult male, Utah National Guard Green Beret (19th Special Forces Group)
- Status: Still missing — wife charged with murder; body never found
- Investigating agency: Cottonwood Heights Police Department
The call at 11:47 p.m.
On September 28, 2024 — eight days after he was last seen — Jennifer Gledhill called the Cottonwood Heights Police Department to report her husband missing. Matthew Johnson, 51, a Green Beret with Utah’s 19th Special Forces Group, a man his fellow soldiers called brilliant and dependable, had not been seen or heard from since September 20.
Gledhill said they’d fought. She said he’d said he needed space and told her not to call. She’d waited more than a week.
What police didn’t know yet — what Gledhill didn’t know they would soon discover — was that she had allegedly already confessed to killing him. Six days earlier. To her lover.
Who Matthew was
Matthew Johnson served his country for over a decade as a Green Beret. He was a father of three — his children were 5, 7, and 11. The family’s Cottonwood Heights home, in a quiet upscale neighborhood, was worth over a million dollars. From the outside, the Johnsons had everything.
Inside, the marriage was ending. Divorce proceedings had begun in July 2024. On the night of September 20, witnesses heard the couple arguing. According to court documents, Johnson confronted Gledhill about an alleged affair.
The investigation
Gledhill first contacted police four days after Johnson was last seen — on September 24 — to report a domestic-violence incident from September 20. She said they’d both been drinking, that Johnson had punched her several times, showing officers bruises. She said they’d made a deal: if he went back to Camp Williams, she wouldn’t report it. When he didn’t show up for work on September 23, she reported him missing on September 28 — also telling police he had been suicidal in the past.
His red truck was found close to the family home. His disappearance was marked suspicious.
Then the informant came forward: a man who said he’d been in a relationship with Gledhill told detectives she had “openly admitted” to shooting Johnson in the head while he slept in their master bedroom late on September 20 or early September 21 — then burying his body in a shallow grave in an undisclosed location.
Officers searched the home and found what the warrant called “several items consistent with homicide”: a strong odor of bleach, walls and carpet that appeared to have been wiped with bleach, bloodstains detected in recently cleaned areas — including a bloodstain on the carpet under the bed and blood spatter on the bed frame. She had allegedly bought a replacement mattress.
Gledhill was arrested on October 2, 2024, and charged with murder. She has pleaded not guilty and is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
Her trial was initially set for June 2026, then postponed by joint motion; it is now scheduled for December 7, 2026, expected to last eight days. In August 2026, a search warrant was unsealed revealing investigators had sought data from both Gledhill’s and Johnson’s Oura fitness rings — hoping GPS, heart-rate, and temperature records could show where Johnson’s body was taken. “If Jennifer was wearing the Oura Ring during the time that Matthew’s body was disposed of,” a detective wrote, “that ring will contain location information.”
Nearly two years on, Matthew Johnson’s body has still not been found.
Theories: what might have happened
Murdered by his wife, body buried in a shallow grave. This is the prosecution’s case, built on the informant’s account, the forensic findings in the bedroom, and the alleged cover-up. It goes to trial in December 2026. Status: an allegation. Gledhill denies it and is presumed innocent.
The Oura Ring data. Investigators’ best current hope for locating Johnson is the fitness-ring data — GPS locations with timestamps from the days after September 20. Whether it yielded anything significant is expected to come out at trial.
What is not in dispute: Matthew Johnson vanished on September 20, 2024, and has not been seen since. Everything else awaits a jury.
Have information?
Contact the Cottonwood Heights Police Department. In an emergency, dial 911.
Timeline
- July 2024 — Divorce proceedings begin between Matthew Johnson and Jennifer Gledhill.
- September 20, 2024 — Johnson is last seen; the couple argues that night.
- September 23, 2024 — Johnson doesn’t show up for work.
- September 24, 2024 — Gledhill reports a domestic-violence incident from Sept. 20.
- September 28, 2024 — Gledhill reports Johnson missing (call at 11:47 p.m.).
- October 2, 2024 — Gledhill is arrested and charged with murder; she pleads not guilty.
- August 2026 — Oura Ring search warrant unsealed; investigators seek GPS data to find Johnson’s body.
- November 5, 2026 — Pretrial hearing scheduled (a second pretrial hearing is set for December 3).
- December 7, 2026 — Murder trial scheduled: jury selection December 7, trial to run through December 16 (eight days).
- Today — Still missing; body never found.
FAQ
Is Matthew Johnson still missing?
Yes. As of October 2026, Matthew Johnson has been missing for more than two years. His body has never been found.
Was Matthew Johnson ever found?
No. Despite searches and a murder prosecution, his remains have never been located.
Who is charged in the Matthew Johnson case?
His wife, Jennifer Gledhill, was arrested October 2, 2024, and charged with murder. She has pleaded not guilty and is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. Her trial is scheduled for December 2026.
What is the Oura Ring evidence?
In August 2026, an unsealed warrant revealed investigators sought GPS, heart-rate, and temperature data from both Johnson’s and Gledhill’s Oura fitness rings, hoping the location records could lead to Johnson’s body.
How old was Matthew Johnson when he disappeared?
51. He was a Green Beret with the Utah National Guard’s 19th Special Forces Group and a father of three.
How can I help?
Share this case file. Anyone with information should contact the Cottonwood Heights Police Department.
Corrections (October 2026 verification pass)
- “November 5, 2026 — Preliminary hearing scheduled” → Pretrial hearing. Per KUTV: two pretrial hearings are scheduled for November 5 and December 3, 2026; jury selection begins December 7. A preliminary hearing at this stage would have been procedurally incorrect (Gledhill was charged in October 2024).
- Trial dates confirmed: postponed from June 2026 by joint motion (Judge Adam Mow) to December 7–16, 2026, eight days including jury selection (KUTV).
- Oura Ring warrant confirmed: filed February 2026, unsealed August 6, 2026; sought GPS, heart-rate, and temperature data from both Gledhill’s and Johnson’s Oura Ring accounts (KUTV, Aug 28, 2026).
- Unverifiable detail: the “11:47 p.m.” missing-person call time on September 28 could not be confirmed in available published sources; retained as cited to police records via news coverage.
Sources
- Official / law enforcement: Cottonwood Heights Police Department; Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office (charging documents); search warrant records (unsealed Aug 2026).
- News: KUTV, “Unsealed warrant reveals Oura Ring data sought in search for missing Utah guardsman’s body” (Aug 28, 2026); KSL; The Associated Press (Oct 2024); Hindustan Times (Aug 2026).
- Reference: Park Telegraph case timeline.
Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here. Last verified October 2026.