Body was found around 4:30 a.m. on the ninth green of the West Ridge Golf Course.

Police say an 18-year-old man whose body was found at a golf course was connected to a group robbed several convenience stores.Investigators are trying to determine whether the victim was killed before or after the robberies.Police say the man had "spent time" with a group of people who are accused in two holdups and one attempted robbery.The body was found around 4:30 a.m. on the ninth green of the West Ridge Golf Course. Police did not release the cause of death.Police took seven people in for questioning arrested 4 of them. Three were booked into the Salt Lake County jail and a 14-year-old was taken to juvenile detention.Four people arrested Friday in connection with a shooting death and string of robberies may have gang ties, police said Saturday. Police are still investigating and confirming the gang affiliations of four people arrested after JoJo Lee Brandstatt, 18, was found dead on a West Valley City golf course early Friday morning, said West Valley City Police Lt. Bill Merritt. Police say the group was also involved in the armed robberies of three gas stations in West Valley City and West Jordan Thursday night. Jeremiah H. Williamson, 28; Spencer I. Cater, 18, and Shardise O. Malaga, 19, were booked into the Salt Lake County jail Friday on suspicion of aggravated murder, aggravated kidnapping and aggravated robbery. The name of a 14-year-old booked into juvenile detention was not released, while three others taken into custody Friday were later released. Brandstatt, the victim, is believed to have some sort of affiliation with the group, but police don't think he helped rob the stores. "We believe he was not involved directly with the robberies, that he didn't take an active part in it and probably wasn't on scene," Merritt said. Working on a tip they received while investigating the robberies, police found Brandstatt's body about 4:30 a.m. Friday. Police believe he had been there less than 12 hours, but are still investigating whether he was killed before or after the robberies. The string of robberies started about 10 p.m. Thursday, at 7-Eleven at 6250 S. Dixie Drive in West Jordan. A single gunman got away with $120 from the register, said West Jordan police Sgt. Drew Sanders. Less than an hour later, a gunman was rattled and ran away empty-handed from a second robbery at a 7-Eleven near the intersection of 3100 West and 3500 South in West Valley City after the clerk became flustered, West Valley City police Capt. Tom McLachlan said. At 11 p.m., a gunman got away with less than $50 after he walked into a third 7-Eleven, at 2320 S. Redwood Road, and demanded cash. Angry at the amount, he hit the clerk with his weapon and fled. Police believe all three robberies were committed by the same gunman, McLachlan said.