When a missing 62-year-old Denver father and his 9-year-old son were found shot to death in a van parked near a stretch of the Colorado River in Grand County, Colo. in a tragic murder-suicide on Dec. 17, the case became complicated by the fact that the father's gun was missing from the scene of the crime and the hand that was holding the gun had its fingers sawed off, according to The Denver Post
The suspects, 29-year-old Jarod Reeves and 35-year-old Kimberley McCafferey, were arrested for allegedly finding the frozen bodies before authorities and rather than reporting it, they allegedly stole money, credit cards, an iPhone and a gun from the van. However, in a jailhouse interview with 9News, Reeves says that he didn't just take the handgun, he had to remove the fingers holding the gun first, "I sawed them off with a hacksaw." Reeves said. "I did what I had to do that night to survive." McCaffrey, backing up Reeves claims of desperation, says that the couple was homeless and had no money. Police say that the couple had plans to pawn the stolen gun for money.
CBS4 reports that the couple were on the run for several days but were found in a hotel room in Spokane Valley, Wash. and taken into custody on Dec. 23.
Police believe that William Ahrold shot and killed his son Jackson Ahrold and then apparently shot and killed himself, according to 7News.
9News reported in December that the father and son had not been seen since Dec. 9 and it had been several weekends since any neighbors had seen the pair. Ahrold's ex-wife, Gretchen Blenkarn, had stopped by William's home just last week, where Jackson lived part-time, to ask if anyone had seen them, but no one had. Jackson's toys were scattered outside the home and the Christmas lights were still on.
Four days after the pair were last seen, they were reported as missing and on Dec. 17, a Bureau of Land Management employee found the victims inside Ahrold's van, according to Fox31. The Grand County Sheriff's Department said that the bodies appeared to have been in the van for several days before being found.