Dateline: Open Desert — What happened to Britney Ujlaky? Disturbing details of a missing teenager, revealed

Dateline: Open Desert re-visited the shocking case of Gabrielle “Britney” Ujlaky, a 16-year-old rodeo queen from Nevada, who went missing on March 8, 2020.

The official synopsis of the episode, according to Rotten Tomatoes, reads as follows:

When 16-year-old Britney Ujaky disappears, a small town in Nevada bands together to track down a potential suspect — an unknown cowboy; Soon, their focus turns to someone much closer to Britney.

Five days after her disappearance, the police found Britney's bloodied and strangulated body wrapped in a blue tarp in Burner Basin. Her throat was slashed, and she was s*xually assaulted before her death.

Here are some more details about Britney Ujlaky, whose shocking story was featured on Dateline: Open Desert Season 32, Episode 18.

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Dateline: Open Desert — Who was Britney Ujlaky? Exploring details of victim's disappearance and murder

Britney Ujlaky, who was born in Colorado Springs and grew up in Spring Creek, Nevada, was 16 years old when she went missing from her father's band practice session in March 2020.

According to her childhood friends and family, she began riding and caring for horses when she was around nine, and dreamed of becoming a rodeo queen. One of her friends also revealed her interest in joining the Navy and how she was also interested in make-up and dreamt of becoming a special effects makeup artist.

The Dateline episode shows how all her dreams would be ruthlessly shattered. She disappeared soon after leaving her father's band practice session with a friend Bryce Dickey, who was like her elder brother.

Her father reported her as missing on March 8, 2020, when she did not return home and neither answered their texts. According to a People report, he said:

“I was repeatedly calling her all the way home and I sent a text, ‘Why aren’t you answering my calls?’”

Five days after she went missing, the police found her bloody and bruised body in Burner Basin, 15 miles northwest of Spring Creek. She had multiple wounds on her body, which suggested that she had been s*xually assaulted and strangulated before her death.

The autopsy report, as depicted on Dateline, revealed that the victim was r*ped, and her throat was brutally slashed, cutting through her carotid artery.

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Dateline: Open Desert — Who was victim Britney Ujlaky's killer?

When the police investigated Bryce Dickey, the last person she was seen with, he revealed that Britney left with a tall man in a cowboy hat in a green Ford F-150 pickup truck hours after he picked up from the practice.

The police were on a wild goose chase for the tall man and a green truck before the DNA sample on the c*ndom found near Britney's body matched with Dickey's. He told the police that he had consensual s*x with the victim.

The prosecution later concluded that Dickey had made up the 'tall man and green truck' story to throw the police off the track, and eventually arrested him. He was tried in court in May 2022, and found guilty of the first-degree murder of Britney and s*xually assaulting her.

Bryce Dickey was sentenced to 20 years in prison, with an additional 50 years, totaling 70 years in prison.

An excerpt from her obituary reads:

"Britney also loved flowers and was always picking a flower and giving it to whoever was around and would tell them "no matter how bad a day you are having a flower will make you feel better."

Also Read: The 10 most harrowing true crime cases covered on Dateline

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