A Missing Bikers Case Turns into a Murder Investigation after Four Dismembered Bodys are Left in an Oklahoma River
A missing persons case turned into a murder investigation after dismembered bodies found in an Oklahoma river were identified as four men who vanished last week, police said.
Over 80 murders have been worked by me in my career. Multiple victims have been the subject of murders I have worked. Okmulgee Police Chief Joe Prentice said he had worked dismemberments, but this was an event that was very violent and involved a high number of victims.
The four men were reported missing by their relatives late Monday or early Tuesday after leaving Billy Chastain’s home on bicycles.
“Although the official cause and manner of death is still pending, each victim suffered gunshot wounds,” Prentice said. All four bodies were dismembered before being placed in the river and there were difficulties in determining identities.
On October 14, a passerby called police after seeing something suspicious in a river outside Okmulgee, a city of about 11,000 people roughly a 35-mile drive south of Tulsa, Prentice previously said.
While it remains unclear exactly what led up to the four men’s deaths, Prentice said preliminary investigation appears to show the men were planning to commit a crime when they set out from Chastain’s home.
The chief stated in a news conference Monday that they believed it was based on information supplied by a witness who told them that the men told them to “hit a lick big enough for all of them.”
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/18/us/oklahoma-missing-bikers-what-we-know/index.html
The University of Idaho Announced Dead Boundaries in Idaho During a Superstorm and a “Homicide Investigation”. The Investigative Case
“That is common terminology for engaging in some type of criminal behavior, but we do not know what they were planning or where they planned to do it,” Prentice added.
After the men were reported missing, police traced two of their cell phones, finding they went to two salvage yards – one about 5 miles from the river, and the other about 10 to 12 miles from the river, Prentice told CNN Saturday.
Prentice said the person is not a suspect, but “a person of interest that we’d like to talk to.” The person denied knowing the four men.
The investigation will be more secretive now that it is a murder case to protect the integrity of the investigation.
The Moscow Police Department discovered the dead when they were called to investigate an unconscious person just before noon.
Police have called the deaths suspected homicides, which generally means the killing of one person by another, though the term doesn’t necessarily suggest death was intended or committed in a criminal manner.
The cause of death was not released by authorities. Police said there would be more information when family members were notified of the deaths.
“It is with deep sadness that I share with you that the university was notified today of the death of four University of Idaho students living off-campus believed to be victims of homicide,” University of Idaho President Scott Green said in a statement posted to Facebook Sunday night. “Out of respect for these fellow Vandals, classes statewide and online are canceled Monday, Nov. 14.”
The university said counselors would be available for students at the campus counseling center, while employees could access assistance through an employee assistance program. Green urged people to reach out if they were concerned about classmates or coworkers.
The Russian Quadruple Homicide of a University of Idaho College Student in Moscow hasn’t Recorded a Kill since 2015
“An event of this magnitude can understandably have significant impacts on those left behind,” Green wrote. “As Vandals, we must come together and lift each other up.”
After the bodies were found the university advised students to shelter in place and wait for investigators to determine there wasn’t any danger elsewhere in the region.
Police have not arrested anyone in the case of the four University of Idaho college students who were murdered nine days ago.
The Idaho State Police communications director said it took awhile to piece together the story of what happened. The public doesn’t get to see most of this because it is a criminal investigation. But I guarantee you behind the scenes, there’s so much work going on.”
But Moscow, a city of about 26,000 residents, hasn’t recorded a murder since 2015. The quadruple homicide has rattled the small college community, and anxieties have only heightened with the ongoing lack of answers.
Much of the information in the case will eventually be used for prosecution and cannot be put into the public eye, at risk of impeding justice at the very end, Snell said.
Investigation of the Moscow student murderings of a black man in the elementary school shooting on a man in a knife-laden area
Moscow police initially told the public that the attack was targeted, with no further threat to the public. But by day four, Police Chief Jason Fry adjusted that statement: “We cannot say that there is no threat to the community.”
Snell acknowledges the early messaging may have been off, given that the roughly 30 members of the Moscow Police Department all initially responded to the crime scene, with no dedicated public information staff within the department.
In addition to the hundreds of leads, police are also combing through large files of surveillance footage submitted by residents of the early morning hours when police believe the murders happened.
Other angles are taking longer to investigate. Law enforcement asked businesses in the area that might have purchased a fixed-blade knife to tell them if it was used in the attack on the students. As of Tuesday, Snell says no local businesses have provided information that a knife matching that description was bought or obtained.
It is always wise for people to lock their doors, walk in pairs and be aware of what they are doing. We are going to find the person who is murdering people and bring them to justice.
He said there could be more than one person responsible for the killings. He also reiterated that police still believe it was a targeted attack, partly because of evidence found at the scene and the fact that two people in the house survived.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/23/us/moscow-idaho-killings-investigation/index.html
The Stalled Hyundai Elantra Associated with the September 13 November Stabbings of four University of Idaho Students: Inquiry into a Tracer of the Crime Scene
Many students gave the school input on how they wish to proceed after the fall break, which led to a decision to allow students to finish the semester either in-person or remotely said the University of Idaho president.
The president of the University of Idaho asked faculty to make sure their students have access to in-person and remote learning during the last two weeks of the semester. Moving courses fully online is not preferred but may be necessary in limited situations.”
At a memorial on Monday evening, Stacy Chapin thanked the “Moscow Police Department, who now carry the burden every day not only for us, but for all of the impacted families.”
As people discuss this case, the public sentiment changes. “They’re confused. They’re upset. We want to try and dispel rumors, and we want to try and make sure that the truth is out there.”
Police have not been able to verify or identify a stalker after investigators looked into hundreds of pieces of information about the victim.
Earlier, police said the surviving roommates and friends who made the 911 call and spoke to dispatchers have been excluded from involvement as suspects. A man seen on video standing near two of the victims has been removed as a suspect and a driver who took two of the victims home has also been eliminated.
Moscow Police said Monday a dog was found at the home of the stabbings, but “the dog was unharmed and turned over to Animal Services and then released to a responsible party.”
Investigators in the killings of four University of Idaho students are searching for at least one person they believe was inside a white sedan seen near the crime scene around the time of the deaths last month, police said Wednesday.
A 2011-2013 Hyundai Elantra was spotted “in the immediate area” of the off-campus home where the students were stabbed to death in the early morning hours of November 13, Moscow Police said in a statement Wednesday.
Information about the vehicle came from thousands of tips that have angered the people of Moscow, Idaho.
“Investigators believe the occupant(s) of this vehicle may have critical information to share regarding this case,” the police statement said, noting it had an unknown license plate.
The Three-Body Stabbing of Four Students at a Moscow Bar and School Complex in the Early Afterglow of the Thanksgiving Break
The four students were killed just days before the school’s Thanksgiving break. The coroner said they were likely asleep when the attack began and they were stabbed multiple times.
Over 6,000 tips have been received over the course of the investigation so far. “We have quality information that we are working on”, said Snell.
Moscow Police Chief James Fry said Tuesday in a video statement that it was time to give back items that mean something to those families and help with their healing.
As they work to figure who killed the students, police have built a timeline of what they were doing in the hours leading up to their deaths and what happened before police were called.
Two of the four were at a bar in downtown Moscow and the other two were at a house, investigators have said. They all returned to the home by 2 a.m.
Two people were found by responding officers on the second floor, while two others were found on the third floor. Police said there were no signs of sexual assault. Authorities also did not see signs of forced entry or damage.