Utah Couple's SUV Explosion a Probable Suicide

By Mary Mitchell

Published on January 09, 2007

A surveillance camera at the Maverik gas station in Salt Lake City showed the couple arriving at a gas pump that afternoon. They exited the vehicle, and Andrea watched as Duston sprayed gasoline from a gas pump into their SUV. They got back into the vehicle and drove it around to the back of the station. Seconds later, witnesses heard the SUV explode into flames, and a woman was screaming. The gasoline explosion was intense enough to shake the windows of the Red Lion Hotel nearby. The couple died inside the vehicle despite efforts of the responding police to put out the fire.

Duston and Andrea Riley were facing legal problems and significant debt judgments. Each had been charged with multiple counts of felony drug possession. They had divorced in 2004; their 4-year-old daughter was being cared for by Duston's parents Steven and Tonya Riley. Duston's family reported that he had been an air traffic controller before recently losing his job, and that after undergoing shoulder surgery last year, he became addicted to prescription pain medication and eventually heroin. The couple had already lost a car and their home. Their death is being investigated by local and federal authorities.

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