WARREN - A dog's throat was slit late Monday at the home of two people being held on drug trafficking charges in a Utah county jail.

A friend of Jonathan Latham, 28, and India Thornhill, 26, called police just after 11 p.m. Monday to report the break-in at 1337 Jefferson St. S.W.

The 20-year-old Austin Avenue woman told police she is house-sitting for the residents, who are in jail in Utah. She said she came to the house about 11:15 p.m. to check on the three pit bulls but couldn't open the front door because one of them was lying dead on the floor in front of it.

She went to the back door and found the back door window broken out and the door unlocked and open, the report states.

When officers arrived, they found piles of clothes on the kitchen floor that made it difficult for them to enter.

There was blood all over the kitchen floor with paw prints through it, the report states. The blood trail led from the kitchen to the living room, where the pit bull was found lying in front of the door. The dog's throat was cut or stabbed and it was not breathing, the police report states.

The house was ransacked with the beds, crib and dresser drawers thrown all over the floor in the bedrooms, police said. An east side window was broken out, and police noted that two metal boxes were in the side yard and appeared to have been thrown out of the house.

The ceiling tiles in the laundry room were removed and lying on the washer and dryer, the report states.

The woman said she had checked on the dogs several times throughout the day and that the break-in happened after 9 p.m. All three dogs had been loose in the home. She locked the two surviving pit bulls in the bathroom before officers arrived, the report states.

On Nov. 10, a deputy from the Iron County, Utah, sheriff's office pulled over a Chevrolet Suburban for a traffic violation on Interstate 15 and after smelling marijuana, he conducted a search. The deputy reported finding nine pounds of cocaine valued at about $2 million in three packages and a loaded .38-caliber handgun in the center console. The deputy also found marijuana on several of the suspects.

Arrested were Latham, Thornhill, Jason O'Malley, 30, and Troy Verity, 24. All of them had listed addresses of 1337 Jefferson St. S.W., but the woman who reported the break-in told police only Latham and Thornhill lived at the Warren home.

All four suspects are being held at the Iron County Jail on two counts of felony cocaine possession, child abuse, violation of drug stamp tax and possession of a dangerous weapon.

According to booking information there, all four suspects made their initial court appearances Friday. Latham, O'Malley and Verity each had their bonds set at $100,000 cash, while Thornhill's bond was set at $50,000 cash. It is unknown when they will next appear in court.

mkosinski@tribtoday.com