This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Robert D. "Bob" Mullins, 91, died last week, 54 years after winning a Pulitzer Prize for his work as a Deseret News reporter.
In 1962, Mullins won the top journalism award "for his resourceful coverage of a murder and kidnapping at Dead Horse Point," according to the Pulitzer Prizes website.
A Salt Lake Tribune story in 2000 mentioned that Mullins traveled more than 1,800 miles in 1961 while compiling the award-winning story. He gathered information that even the FBI hadn't uncovered, a Deseret News article says.
It adds that Mullins was a World War II veteran who graduated from the University of Utah in 1950. The following year, he was hired at the News, where he continued for 36 years until retirement. Mullins was named an "outstanding alumnus" at the U. after he won the Pulitzer.
Mullins was well-liked in the newsroom, according to Rick Hall, former News managing editor.
"Bob was a heckuva guy," Hall said Thursday night. "He was a tenacious journalist, and in every sense of the word, he was a gentleman."
The two worked on the city desk together "back in the old days, when journalism was a blue-collar ... kind of thing," Hall said.
Mullins was residing in Berryville, Va., when he died June 8, the News says; funeral services will be held Wednesday in Las Vegas.
Twitter: @NickParkerSTET, @mnoblenews