Kristin Cavallari, best known for appearing on The Hills, is mourning the untimely death of her 30-year-old brother, Michael Cavallari. Michael went missing just days after Kristin and husband Jay Cutler welcomed their baby girl into the world. On Thursday of this week, Michael’s body was discovered–marking an end of a month-long list of strange events in the young man’s life.
CBS News reports that Michael Cavallari stopped for gas in Monticello, Utah during the early morning hours of November 27. He then proceeded north on Interstate 70–headed toward Salt Lake City.
R.I.P. Kristin Cavallari’s Brother Found Dead After 2 Week Disappearance (via @bossip) https://t.co/aG2FnoeRRu
— TMZ (@TMZ) December 11, 2015
About 90 miles after stopping for gas, Michael exited the highway and drove along a dirt road called Floy Wash Road. After about five miles, he veered off the dirt road and his vehicle plunged into an embankment.
Investigators speculate that Michael Cavallari left his car and wandered into the desert. Temperatures in the Salt Wash, the steep, boulder-specked area where his body was found, rarely rose above 30 degrees in the week he went missing.
Grand County Sheriff Steven White did an interview Friday with 48 Hours’ Crimesider.
“In the area he was in it was very rough,” he said, explaining that as many as 30 deputies scoured the area, along with dogs and drones. “It made the search very challenging.”
“I actually have the busiest search and rescue team in the state,” White added. “A lot of the rock formations look the same, so it’s easy to get lost out there.”
If Michael Cavallari left his car hoping to find the highway, five miles north, he went in the wrong direction, according to police. It would have been a trying hike even for those well prepared for the elements, and Cavallari was wearing the same clothes he had on when spotted at the gas station–a thin, long sleeve green shirt, jeans, and sneakers.
Heartbroken Kristin Cavallari steps out following her brother Michael's death https://t.co/nouCF1bna0 pic.twitter.com/gabv9M4042
— People magazine (@people) December 11, 2015
According to a report from Dana Point, California police, the death of Kristin Cavallari’s brother marks the end of a month of strange events for the young man. On November 11, he and a woman engaged in a verbal dispute.
“For several weeks after the incident, Michael kept knocking on her door, but she refused to answer,” a police report states.
On November 23, the same woman heard a soft knock on her apartment door from something that “sounded like a piece of metal.” When she looked out her window, she saw Michael Cavallari with “a shotgun pressed to his shoulder and the barrel raised parallel to the ground, aiming down the path” in the direction of her apartment. He was subsequently arrested for criminal threats and spent two days in jail before getting bailed out.
No one seems to know why Michael Cavallari drove toward Salt Lake City in the middle of the night during the two days prior to his disappearance.
Kristin Cavallari issued a statement on behalf of her family when her brother’s body was found.
“We want to thank everyone for their love, support and prayers during this very difficult time. We have just been informed by the authorities my brother’s body has been found. This is a very painful time and we are still processing it all. We kindly ask everyone please respect our privacy during our time of grieving,” the statement read.
Kristin Cavallari and her family are no doubt wracked with grief over this sudden and tragic loss. The unanswered questions and bizarre events in her brother’s life prior to his death are likely haunting them.
It is abundantly clear from recent photos Kristin Cavallari shared via social media of herself with her late brother that they at one time shared a very close bond.
Preliminary reports lean toward Michael Cavallari dying of exposure to the elements.
Kristin Cavallari’s brother Michael may have died from exposure to cold: https://t.co/tnWvI9SbQ5 pic.twitter.com/eYCaof6LVq
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) December 12, 2015
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