A total of four people have now been arrested after the body of an 89-year-old man was stuffed in a suitcase and transported from New York to Arkansas, authorities say.
The Prairie County sheriff’s office said Wednesday that Aaron M. Rulison, 25, of Gloversville, N.Y., and Leeann N. Sager, 34, of Johnstown, N.Y., were arrested Tuesday morning on charges of concealment of a human corpse, a class E felony.
Sager also faces charges of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a class D felony and second-degree criminal contempt, a class A misdemeanor, records show.
Their arrests were made by the Johnstown Police Department in New York. Records show both were later released from the Fulton County, N.Y., jail.
Two other people had previously been arrested after police found World War II veteran Robert Brooks’ body March 5 in the suitcase in a Prairie County field.
Virginia “Ginger” Colvin, 56, of Johnstown and Michael Stivers each face charges of abusing a corpse.
Colvin was listed as Brooks’ caregiver and Stivers, who recently began dating Colvin, was also considered a caretaker.
Brooks had been dead for about a month before Prairie County deputies discovered his body.
His death is believed to have been the result of natural causes and is not being investigated as a homicide.
Authorities are investigating whether Colvin and Stivers hid Brooks' death to continue receiving his monthly Social Security payments.
It was not immediately clear Wednesday afternoon what relation, if any, Rulison and Sager had to Brooks.
Read Thursday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
Information for this article was contributed by Kenneth Heard of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.