Four people have been arrested for the murders of two missing friends, whose bodies were discovered in a sunken vehicle nearly a month after they disappeared.
The bodies of Raegan Elizabeth Day, 20, and Dustin Hartline, 28, were recovered on Monday in the East Pearl River Boat Launch on the Mississippi/Louisiana state line.
Jason Landry, 18, Brittney ‘Beezy’ Savell, 25, Derrion Lemoine, 22, and Steve ‘Stevie’ Olivieri, 27, have each been charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
The bodies of Raegan Elizabeth Day, 20, (left) and Dustin Hartline, 28, (right) were recovered on Monday in the East Pearl River Boat Launch on the Mississippi/Louisiana state line
Landry and Savell, who both live in Slidell, Louisiana, were arrested in Waveland, Mississippi. Lemoine and Olivieri, who is also from Slidell, were arrested in Louisiana.
All four suspects are being held in the St Tammany Parrish Jail, according to WVUE.
The sheriff said the investigation is ongoing and additional arrests are possible.
Day and Hartline were last seen leaving their home in Pearl River, Louisiana, around 12.30pm on February 15 in Day’s 2011 dark blue Chevrolet Camaro.
Jason Landry, 18, (left) and Brittney ‘Beezy’ Savell, 25, (right) were two of the four suspects arrested in the pair’s murders
Derrion Lemoine, 22, (left) and Steve ‘Stevie’ Olivieri, 27, (right) were also arrested. All four have been charged with two counts of first-degree murder
They were expected to visit a family member’s home in Kenner before attending a doctor’s appointment in Baton Rouge.
But relatives began to worry when Day and Hartline never showed up at the Kenner residence.
Stephanie Heaphy, Hartline’s mother, revealed that the signal on her son’s phone disappeared around 1pm on the day he went missing.
‘The last time the phone went off was shortly after I spoke with him and then about 12.30, 1.00pm, there was no signal on the phone,’ she told WWLTV last month.
‘And the last signal was somewhere in Slidell.’
Authorities had been searching ponds and waterways for weeks before a tip led them to East Pearl River Boat Launch on Highway 90 (pictured)
A car matching the description for Day’s vehicle (pictured) was pulled from the water at 5pm and the pair were identified from their tattoos
Authorities had been searching in ponds and waterways for weeks before a tip led them to East Pearl River Boat Launch on Highway 90.
A car matching the description of Day’s vehicle was pulled from the water at 5pm and the pair were identified from their tattoos, according to The Times-Picayune.
Autopsies were scheduled for Tuesday and causes of death have not been released.
Day and Hartline’s deaths are being investigated as a double homicide. The St Tammany Parish Office said all four suspects are ‘directly involved in the murders’.
The St Tammany Parish Office said all four suspects are ‘directly involved in the murders’ of Day and Hartline
Autopsies were scheduled for Tuesday and the causes of death have not yet been released
‘It’s not the outcome we wanted for the family,’ Sheriff Randy Smith told WWLTV.
‘We are just glad that we can bring some closure to the family.’
The loss has been especially devastating for Hartline’s father Russell, who lost his youngest son – Dustin’s brother – just last year.
‘I fought myself so I could be there for Dustin,’ Russell said shortly after his son disappeared.
‘He’s all I have.’
Day and Hartline’s deaths are being investigated as a double homicide, according to police