LITTLE ROCK — A 20-year-old Little Rock man has been arrested in the deaths of a father and daughter whose bodies were found in a burning truck in Pulaski County.
Robert T. Gatrell was arrested late this morning on two counts of capital murder and one count of arson.
Gatrell is accused of killing 28-year-old Michael Palmer and his nearly 2-year-old daughter, Hannah Dowdie. Their bodies were found Dec. 12 on dead-end Wilbern Road near Granite Mountain Quarries.
Palmer’s body was in the bed of a small GMC truck registered in his name. Hannah’s was in the cab.
The Pulaski County sheriff's office announced the arrest this afternoon at a brief news conference at the agency's headquarters. Authorities declined to discuss specifics of the investigation - including the motive or what led them to Gatrell - because additional arrests are possible.
The affidavit filed with Gatrell's arrest warrant has been sealed because it contains "critical information" in the ongoing investigation, Sheriff Doc Holladay said. He said it was possible further charges could be added against "another person or persons."
"We're very happy to get to this point," sheriff's office spokesman John Rehrauer said. "But we still have a lot of work to do."
Holladay said Gatrell was familiar with both victims, but he declined to say more about their relationship.
"Let me just say that they have a close relationship," he said. "But again we're not going to answer questions regarding this matter. It's an ongoing investigation."
Gatrell is being held in the Pulaski County Detention Facility.
Read more in Friday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.