HUNTSVILLE, Ark. – Three adults were found dead and a baby was kidnapped from a home in northeastern Arkansas, but the child was found hours later, unharmed, and a suspect was arrested, officials said on Wednesday.
Sheriff’s deputies discovered the bodies at the house near Huntsville, Madison County, on Tuesday night, Arkansas State Police said. Authorities deduced that the child was missing and state police troops began looking for two vehicles that had been seen in the house earlier in the day.
One of the vehicles, a truck, was found abandoned, but soldiers reached the other vehicle, a van, shortly after 10 pm on Tuesday along Interstate 30 near Benton, about 320 kilometers from Huntsville.
A passenger armed with a rifle got out of the vehicle and started verbally teasing police officers, the state police said. Other soldiers advanced in the back and arrested Hunter Chenoweth, 22, of De Queen.
State police said the van driver was a 25-year-old woman, also from De Queen. The child under 1 was also in the van. Police said the woman was interrogated and released.
State police identified homicide victims as Tami Lynn Chenoweth, 51; James Stanley McGhee, 59; and Cheyene Chenoweth, 26. Authorities said the arrested man and the people who were killed were related, but did not say how.
The child was placed in the care of the Department of Human Services.
Hunter Chenoweth was being charged at the Washington County Detention Center on Wednesday. The prison records did not list a lawyer who could speak on his behalf. State police say the formal charges will be determined by the Madison County prosecutor.