Photos: (from left) Ryan James Lindsey, Skylar Whitney Brazil and Allison June Beckham Cunningham
Three people have been arrested and charged with first-degree murder after the discovery of a body Wednesday in a burned car south of Mountain Home.
Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery says the three charged are 27-year-old Ryan James Lindsey, 38-year-old Skylar Whitney Brazil and 42-year-old Allison June Beckham Cunningham, all of Mountain Home.
Montgomery says about 10 Wednesday morning, deputies responded to a 911 call and located a vehicle just off Old Arkana Road and what appeared to be human remains inside. Montgomery says it appears the vehicle had been there for several days.
Investigators from the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office, Mountain Home Police Department, Arkansas State Police and the Baxter County Coroner’s Office responded. The body was removed and sent to the Medical Examiner’s Office at the Arkansas State Crime Lab in Little Rock for an autopsy to determine the identity of the victim, along with the cause and manner of death.
Investigators from the three agencies executed search warrants on the burned vehicle, at a residence in Mountain Home and a second residence east of Mountain Home. Interviews were conducted and suspects were developed.
Late Wednesday evening Brazil was located and fled on foot. He was taken into custody, after a K9 dog team from the Arkansas Department of Correction located him hiding in weeds and transported to the Baxter County Detention Center.
Arrest warrants were obtained, and Thursday, Lindsey and Cunningham were arrested near Brownsville, Texas, by officers with the Texas Department of Public Safety who had been working closely with Baxter County authorities after information was obtained during the investigation. The two suspects will be extradited to Arkansas to face charges.
Brazil’s bond was set at $500,000, and bonds for Lindsey and Cunningham were set at $1,000,000.
Montgomery says the name of the victim is being withheld pending positive identification by the Arkansas State Medical Examiner.
The investigation is ongoing. The 14th Judicial District Prosecutor’s Office has asked that no other information be released at this time.
Agencies involved in this investigation are the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office, Mountain Home Police Department, Arkansas State Police, Baxter County Coroner’s Office, and the Arkansas Department of Corrections and Community Corrections.
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