A Utah County woman is speaking publicly about surviving months of escalating abuse at the hands of a man she met on Snapchat, describing a relationship that moved from manipulation to strangling, kidnapping and threats with a knife before she finally got free. Emilee Jordan, who graduated high school in 2025, says she wants her story to warn others before it is too late.
Jordan met Isaac Steffens Rowley, who went by the name Josh, through Snapchat, according to KSL News. KSL described Rowley as 23 in its account. Jordan reported that he sexually assaulted her during their very first time hanging out. “It is real, and it happens more than you think,” Jordan said, describing why she decided to come forward.
The abuse escalated from there. Rowley choked and dragged Jordan to his house while he was living with his parents, the outlet reported. On February 12, 2026, Jordan says Rowley sexually assaulted and strangled her inside his car while driving her to a friend's house in Cedar Hills. She was unable to speak and had difficulty breathing, nearly passing out, according to the report.
A Desperate Escape Onto Muddy Ground
Jordan fought back, scratching Rowley's forehead and pulling his hair, before opening the car door and falling outside onto wet, muddy ground. Rowley ordered her back into the vehicle and threatened that things would be worse if she ran, the station's report states. He ultimately left her at her friend's house with her body covered in bruises.
That same month, Rowley reported Jordan to the Utah County Sheriff's Office, accusing her of extorting him, per the same account. The following month, in March 2026, Rowley threatened Jordan at his home in Eagle Mountain and demanded she delete evidence from her phone, warning he would beat her head with a bat if she did not unlock it. Detectives later recovered audio of that Eagle Mountain confrontation, which had been accidentally recorded on Rowley's own phone, and Jordan had separately recorded him acknowledging that he hurt her and had threatened her to scare her.
Rowley also took Jordan to a lookout point, where she said he threatened her with a knife and whipped her back, the article notes. Terrified and unable to leave, Jordan texted her mother that same month asking her to send police to Rowley's house. Law enforcement arrested him soon after.
Detective Says Case Reflects Cycle of Abuse
Detective Ashleigh Gutierrez of American Fork Police described Jordan's case as an example of the cycle of abuse. Even from behind bars, Gutierrez said, Rowley kept trying to manipulate Jordan: he attempted to call her twice from the Utah County Jail using other inmates' names, telling her in one recorded call, “I just want to say that, you know, I love you.” Gutierrez said Rowley's plan was to continue manipulating Jordan from behind bars, and detectives learned Rowley had discussed with an unidentified woman a strategy to persuade Jordan he actually cared about her.
In August 2026, Rowley pleaded guilty to multiple felony charges, including two counts of aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, tampering with a witness and sexual exploitation of a minor. He also pleaded no contest to forcible sodomy. He received a prison sentence of at least 10 years.
The case echoes another Utah County sentencing that drew attention, though the two cases are not described as directly comparable. In 2022, a judge sentenced Daniel Padilla-Ang, then 28, to 15 years to life in prison for strangling his girlfriend, Sandra Fiorella Robles, following an argument over a vape pen, according to KSL.
Finding Confidence After Leaving
Jordan decided to share her story publicly to raise awareness and encourage others in abusive relationships to get out. “I just want to help people,” she said.
Her experience lines up with a broader pattern among young people. The Utah Domestic Violence Coalition says roughly one in three teens will experience some form of dating abuse, according to the coalition's LINKLine resource page.
The coalition operates a confidential, statewide 24-hour domestic violence hotline at 1-800-897-LINK (5465). Callers are never asked for their name or any personal information, and advocates can help callers build a safety plan for themselves or someone they know. The coalition's website notes that during periods of increased call volume, LINKLine calls may be forwarded to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, and it urges anyone in immediate danger to call 9-1-1. The LINKLine can also draw on interpreters for more than 255 languages.
Other resources mentioned alongside Jordan's story include the YWCA Women in Jeopardy program at 801-537-8600, the Utah statewide Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline at 1-855-323-DCFS (3237), and the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.
