2 dead, 1 arrested after police respond to hostage situation

DELTA, Millard County — A couple is dead, and their son is in custody after police responded to reports of a hostage situation Saturday in Delta.

Rett Riding, 26, was booked into the Millard County jail for investigation of aggravated murder and aggravated kidnapping.

Police responded to a home in Delta about 10:58 p.m. after receiving a call from Riding's mother, Patricia Smith Riding, 69.

She told 911 her son was "being erratic and had taken herself and her husband hostage," according to Millard County Sheriff Steve O'Camb. "She stated Rett was trying to put them in a shed but that she got away to call 911."

During the call, "she was pleading for someone to come quickly because her son was acting out. She then screamed and said, 'He's coming!' There appeared to be a struggle between the male subject and the female prior to the call going quiet," O'Camb said.

A responding deputy said they found Rett Riding with blood on his clothing and hands with Neal Jeffery Riding, 62, lying unconscious on the ground nearby, according to O'Camb.

Rett Riding was restrained by the deputy and put into a patrol vehicle as backup and medical responders were called. CPR was performed on Neal Riding, but he died on the scene. Patricia Riding was also pronounced dead on the scene.

The sheriff didn't say how they died.

Neal Riding was a 26-year-member of the West Millard Sheriff's Posse Search and Rescue, according to O'Camb.