Authorities Monday released the cause of death of a 71-year-old who was abducted and killed last month during a shopping trip.
Elvia Fragstein was killed by strangulation and blunt force trauma to the head and spine, Faulkner County sheriff's office spokesman Erin Stone said Monday.
Two teenagers, Robert Lee Smith Jr., 16, and Tacori D. Mackrell, 19, were charged with kidnapping and murder in the case last month. Mackrell was still in the Faulkner County jail with no bail set as of Monday evening. Though Smith was not listed on the jail's online inmate roster Monday, Stone said he is still in police custody with no bail set.
The Wooster woman's body was found on a rural road near Pine Bluff four days after her husband, Helmut Fragstein, reported her missing.
Elvia Fragstein had been shopping on July 7 at the Conway Commons mall when police believe she was abducted. Fragstein is seen on camera exiting a store, and her vehicle was caught by another camera driving erratically across the parking lot.
Helmut Fragstein reported his wife missing later that evening when she did not return from Conway. Her body was identified on July 13.
On July 16, officers arrested Smith and Mackrell, though the sheriff's office has released little information concerning what led officers to arrest the teenagers.
Just one day later, officers found Elvia Fragstein's vehicle abandoned and destroyed by fire in a grassy area more than 80 miles from where Fragstein was last seen.
Information for this article was contributed by Jaime Dunaway of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Metro on 08/21/2018