Police located the victim’s missing vehicle at a Laughlin casino hours after a motorist discovered his body along Silver Creek Road.
BULLHEAD CITY, Ariz. — A Bullhead City couple was arrested at a Nevada casino Saturday after a 29-year-old man was found dead in a desert area east of the city, police said. Investigators said the victim had suffered multiple stab wounds and are treating the death as a homicide.
The Bullhead City Police Department said a motorist reported finding the man along the side of the road in the 3100 block of Silver Creek Road at about 11:45 a.m. Nov. 7. The location is roughly a mile east of Bullhead Parkway. Officers determined that the circumstances appeared suspicious, prompting detectives to begin a homicide investigation.
Investigators identified the victim as a 29-year-old Bullhead City man who was experiencing homelessness, according to police. His name had not been released as of Sunday because authorities were still working to notify his next of kin. Police have not publicly disclosed when the man died or provided additional information about the circumstances that led to the fatal encounter.
During the investigation, detectives learned that the victim’s vehicle was missing and developed information about a possible suspect. At about 4:40 p.m., roughly five hours after the body was reported, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers located the vehicle parked at a casino in Laughlin, Nevada, across the Colorado River from Bullhead City.
Police identified the two people taken into custody as Jacob Dylan Middlebrook, 35, and his girlfriend, Layne Justine McIntosh, 36, both of Bullhead City. Bullhead City police said both were arrested in connection with second-degree homicide allegations. The arrests are accusations, and authorities have not released evidence establishing what role, if any, each person allegedly played in the victim’s death.
Middlebrook and McIntosh were expected to be booked into the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas while awaiting extradition to Mohave County, Arizona, according to the police account. Authorities had not announced formal court proceedings in Arizona or released information about attorneys representing either person. No motive for the killing had been made public.
Initial reporting differed slightly over the status of the victim’s vehicle. Arizona’s Family described it as stolen, while the police information republished by The Bee News said detectives determined that it was missing. Police said the vehicle’s discovery in Laughlin helped officers locate Middlebrook and McIntosh, but authorities have not released further details about how investigators connected the pair to the case.
The investigation remained active Sunday. Police had not released the victim’s identity, a more detailed timeline of his death or additional information about what investigators believe happened before his body was found. Authorities said his name would be made public after his family had been notified.