UPDATE: (July 20, 11:51 a.m)
A $1 million bond was set each for the three suspects who were arrested on murder charges after confessing their connection to the murder of the Kansas elderly couple, according to the Crawford County Prosecuting Attorney’s office.
In Arkansas, Michael Fowler, 54, Rusty Fraiser, 35, and Kimberly Younger, 52, are facing charges of abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and theft by receiving.
If murder charges are filed officials say it will come out of Kansas because that’s where they believe the murder took place.
An arraignment date has not been set, due to the fact that officials are still waiting on all reports to come in.
UPDATE (July 19, 2:10 p.m.)
Van Buren authorities have released more details about the killing of an elderly Kansas couple who were buried in a shallow grave in Crawford County.
Michael Fowler, 54, confessed to shooting and with accomplices dumping the bodies of Alfred “Sonny” and Pauline Carpenter. This information was revealed in a probable cause affidavit.
The Van Buren Police Department on Wednesday said they received information about a female, Christine Tenney, who was kidnapped and taken to Van Buren.
Police said the couple who kidnapped Tenney also murdered the Carpenters in Great Bends, Kan.
Officers were informed that the couple was staying at the Vista Hills Apartments. The officers said they made contact with Tenney, Fowler, Rusty Fraiser, 35, and Kimberly Younger, 52.
The officers said they located a one-ton pickup with a camper, which was registered to Alfred and Pauline Carpenter.
The Carpenters were not located at the scene, and they were reported missing out of Wichita, Kan., by their daughter.
Fowler, Fraiser and Younger, all of whom have been identified as carnival workers, were taken into police custody. Authorities believe the couple was killed Friday after meeting the carnival workers at the Barton County Fair.
Fowler admitted to shooting and killing the Carpenters in Great Bends. He also said Fraiser and a woman he referred to as “Khan” were with him when he shot the couple. Police have since identified Khan as Kimberly Younger.
Fowler said they located the couple’s truck, loaded their bodies into it and drove to Van Buren. Two days after arriving in Van Buren, the trio, along with Tenney and a person identified as Scott Spencer drove to a secluded area on Starr Road off State Highway 59 and dumped the bodies and covered them with the bedding out of the camper and also rocks and limbs.
Officers said they were able to locate the Rugar 9mm that Fowler used to kill the couple.
Fraiser and Younger also admitted to taking the couple to Van Buren after the couple was murdered in Kansas and dumping the bodies on Starr Road.
UPDATE (July 19, 11:19 a.m.)
Van Buren police say the two bodies found underneath a mattress in a shallow grave near a creek were identified as Alfred “Sonny” and Pauline Carpenter.
Police Cpl. Jonathan Wear said authorities believe the couple was killed Friday after meeting the carnival workers at the Barton County Fair. He said the suspects on Saturday drove the bodies 320 miles to Arkansas in the couple’s recreational vehicle.
UPDATE (9:25 p.m.):
The Crawford County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the identities of the three carnival workers arrested in connection to the death investigation of the two bodies buried in a shallow grave.
52 year-old Kimberly Younger of Texas, 35 year-old Rusty Fraiser of Texas, and 54 year-old Michael Fowler of Florida are all facing charges of abuse of a corpse, theft of property and tampering with physical evidence.
UPDATE (4:30 p.m.):
Authorities in Barton County, Kan., are investigating the disappearance and death of the elderly man and woman whose bodies were found in a shallow grave in Crawford County.
Barton County Attorney Amy Mellor announced that Kansas and Arkansas law enforcement are investigating the deaths. The Arkansas law enforcement Mellor is referring to is the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office, which has arrested three people in connection with the shallow grave.
“Mellor stated that law enforcement officers in Arkansas had initiated an investigation regarding the disappearance of two people from the county’s fairgrounds, located west of Great Bend,” a news release states. “When Arkansas officers began their investigation they alerted the Great Bend Police Department, which launched its own investigation.”
Mellor said no further details are available.
It was previously confirmed that the elderly man and woman are from Wichita, Kan.
UPDATE (4 p.m.):
Three people have been arrested after deputies were led to two bodies buried in a shallow grave in a rural wooded area in Crawford County.
The Crawford County sheriff has not released the names yet, but all three are facing charges of abuse of a corpse, theft of property and tampering with physical evidence.
Investigators had dug up the bodies of an elderly man and woman who were buried in a shallow grave under a mattress.
The two victims have not been identified, but authorities have confirmed they are from Wichita, Kan.
Authorities believe they were buried on Monday.
The Crawford County Sheriff’s Office began investigating after receiving information about a possible gravesite from the Van Buren Police Department.
Crawford County Sheriff Ron Brown said the victims’ families will be notified once they are positively identified.
“Right now the victims have been removed from the scene, they will go to a local mortuary service, we have some more processing for us to do, the coroner’s office does as well and then they will be transported to the crime lab from there,” Brown said.
Van Buren police are also in possession of a camper they believe belonged to the victims. Investigators said they have reason to think the female victim was shot inside.
Van Buren said the three people arrested are not from this area and may also face additional charges in another jurisdiction.
Stay with KNWA for all the latest updates on this story.
UPDATE:
Deputies found two bodies underneath a mattress in a shallow grave near a creek off of Starr Road in Crawford County.
The bodies were identified as an elderly male and female couple.
Authorities say the couple was from Kansas, and a missing report was filed for the male victim.
Van Buren Police say they received the information about the possible homicide from another state.
Police have detained four people of interest.
Authorities believe the dead couple owned a camper out of state where the woman was shot.
Crawford County has begun to recover the bodies.
The Crawford County Coroner, Arkansas Game and Fish, US Forestry Division and the Arkansas State Police Company “D” are all on the scene.
Original Story:
CRAWFORD COUNTY (KNWA) — The Crawford County Sheriff’s Office has started a homicide investigation after a body was discovered in Northwestern Crawford County.
Deputies are working a scene near Highway 59 and Natural Dam Road in Crawford County.
“We are at what we believe is a grave site. [We] have not started digging yet,” according to Crawford County Sheriff Ron Brown.
Stay with KNWA news as we get more details into the newsroom.
