So, have you heard about the woman who reportedly sold her house to raise $50,000 so she could pay a South Korean company to clone her dead pit bull, which went by the charming and tasteful name of “Booger?” The basic story is pretty weird on its own — not least of all because the woman apparently thinks the cloned puppies are reincarnations* of Booger, based on her statement that they “know her” — but now it seems to be getting even weirder. I’ve been reading some speculation that Bernann McKinney, the proud owner of a litter of clone puppies, might in fact be Joyce McKinney, who, 30 years ago, abducted a Mormon missionary and took him to a rented cottage in the English countryside, where she chained him to a bed with mink-lined handcuffs and had her way with him — several times — in the hopes that he would marry her. The British tabloid The Daily Mail has the gory details, if you’re interested.

Brenann McKinney is denying that she’s the notorious missionary rapist, but I see a strong resemblance in the photos on Paul Rolly’s blog, and Salt Lake filmmaker Trent Harris, who once did a documentary on Joyce McKinney, is quoted as being “pretty sure” they’re one and the same person.

I vaguely remember hearing about the missionary abduction when I was growing up, but I always thought it was an urban legend, like Emo’s grave or the satanists in Memory Grove. I should’ve known better… if there’s a weird story out there, it almost always seems to come with a Utah connection. This state seems to exert a magnetic pull on colorful characters and offbeat occurrences. I consider it one of the many fringe benefits of living here…

* You know, this is a common misperception, that clones are not merely genetic duplicates but somehow retain the memories and personality of the donor organism as well, and it drives me crazy. It’s nonsense, of course. A clone is no more the same animal — or person, because you know that’s coming eventually — than a so-called “identical” twin sibling. They may share the same DNA, but they have their own thoughts and experiences, and often don’t even look all that much alike. The culprit is, I believe, a whole lot of really bad made-for-TV movies and a big dose of ignorance.