It looks like a normal crash but when cops saw eyes peering from truck it turned into something more sinister

It looked like nothing more than a highway fender-bender – until troopers spotted a pair of eyes peering from the back of a refrigerated truck.

The unnerving discovery came on Wednesday, September 17, after a big rig smashed into a minivan on Interstate 15 near Lindon, Utah.

Behind the wheel was Jacob Ortell Scott, 28, who police say failed to stop as traffic slowed.

The collision prompted inspectors to give the truck a closer look.

That’s when an investigator snapped a photo of the rear doors and noticed a sliver of movement inside.

‘He took a photo of the rear of the truck and there was a slight gap in the door, and he happened to see a set of eyes looking at him as he took that photo,’ Lt. Clay Morgan, with the Utah Highway Patrol, told KTSU. ‘And then he knew we had more problems than just the accident.’

Troopers opened the trailer and were stunned to find two girls – Scott’s half-sisters, aged just 14 and 12 – huddled in the icy compartment.

The refrigerated trailer was cooled to 30 degrees and had been sealed in such a way the children could not have escaped on their own.

The refrigerated truck involved in the Utah crash sits damaged on Interstate 15 after slamming into a minivan

Front-end view of the commercial truck driven by Jacob Ortell Scott, 28, who was later arrested on child abuse charges

The mangled rear of a white minivan that was struck from behind by the truck

Another view of the smashed vehicle after the collision, which at first appeared to be a routine crash

The girls, who are homeschooled, were not physically hurt – but their brother was arrested on suspicion of aggravated child abuse as investigators probe the disturbing case.

Authorities confirmed the sisters are now safe.

This is not the first time a routine stop has led to a sinister discovery. Back in May, deputies in Texas uncovered a human smuggling operation after pulling over a truck hauling hay bales on Interstate 10.

What looked like a harmless agricultural load turned out to be a deadly ruse – the bales had been hollowed out to hide undocumented migrants inside stifling compartments.

Authorities described the method as ‘incredibly dangerous to human life’, warning that traffickers are using increasingly brazen and hazardous tactics to move people along America’s highways.