Friday's arrest of Houston Henry III cut the number of people wanted by the Pulaski County sheriff's office on capital murder warrants in half, from two to one.
Henry, 55, was arrested by U.S. marshals Friday afternoon in Fort Smith. He has been charged with capital murder in the Feb. 13 death of his 77-year-old aunt, Joyce Taylor, in Sweet Home.
Henry was being held in the Pulaski County jail with no bail set.
The sheriff's office is still searching for Hiram Contreras, who is wanted on capital murder and kidnapping warrants in a separate case. The 28-year-old Pulaski County resident, whose last known address was 607 W. Bingham Road, is wanted in the death of 20-year-old Cody McCann of Landmark.
McCann was last seen by family members on the afternoon of Jan. 10 in Landmark. His body, with a gunshot wound in the back, was found about 1:30 a.m. Jan. 17 in a heavily wooded and secluded area off Border Lane in rural, southern Pulaski County.
According to Contreras' capital murder affidavit, he is "believed to have orchestrated" McCann's kidnapping and death.
The sheriff's office has already arrested two men in connection with McCann's death. Evatt "Ted" Warner III, 29, and Clifton King Jr., 28, were arrested Jan. 17. Both were subsequently charged with capital murder and kidnapping.
Warner was being held in the Pulaski County jail with no bail set. King was being held in the jail in lieu of $200,000 bond.
The sheriff's office has been unable to locate Contreras and considers him armed and dangerous.
"We got a few leads, but nothing we want to put out right now," sheriff's office spokesman Capt. Carl Minden said Friday. "There are a couple of things that we are working on. We're working a lot with the U.S. marshals on him because of the nature of his crime."
Capturing fugitives requires skilled and dogged investigative work, but there's also an element of chance in play, Minden said.
"You can only investigate so many different avenues that are there," he said. "A lot of times they are going to have to do something. You can't just drop off the face of the earth. They make a phone call or write a letter to somebody. They do something to put them back into the limelight. Or they make somebody mad and [that person] tells.
"They are talking to somebody. You don't just go into a cave somewhere and disappear. Somebody out there is talking to them, be it family or friend. Hopefully, those people can come forward and give a little information."
While it's unknown where Contreras is right now, sheriff's investigators have a pretty good idea of his actions after McCann disappeared.
An affidavit states that deputies received anonymous information on Jan. 13 from a caller who stated that Contreras said King and another person "had 'talked' to Cody McCann on Jan. 10 in reference to missing methamphetamine."
Two other witnesses said Contreras went to their residence Jan. 10 with McCann, according to the affidavit, along with King, Warner and another person. McCann was beaten but walked out of the residence alive before getting into King's vehicle, along with Warner and Contreras, at gunpoint.
On Jan. 16, according to the affidavit, Warner told investigators that he kidnapped McCann, and McCann was driven to the end of Border Lane. Warner said Contreras then made a phone call in Spanish to someone who appeared to have determined McCann's fate. Warner told investigators that he shot McCann in the back with a 12-gauge shotgun on the orders of Contreras, who was pointing a pistol at him.
Also on Jan. 16, the affidavit states, King told investigators that he drove Contreras, McCann and Warner to Border Lane where they got out and he left.
Warner later assisted sheriff's deputies in finding McCann's body.
Metro on 03/09/2015