Suspects wanted in Washington couple's death spotted in Mexico
EVERETT, Wash. -- Two brothers charged with murder in the presumed killing of a missing Washington state couple have been spotted in Mexico, and authorities are seeking the records of a cellphone they believe was recently used by one of them.
Search warrant records filed Monday by sheriff's investigators in Snohomish County Superior Court say several sightings of 53-year-old John Blaine Reed and 49-year-old Tony Clyde Reed in Mexico have been reported as recently as April 21, The Seattle Times reported.
Records also show investigators got a warrant for data for an iPhone used to make two unanswered calls on April 17 to a friend of the brothers in Phoenix. The calls were made to the friend, described in records as a former Arlington, Washington, resident, after the Reeds "fled his place" on their way to Mexico.
The friend, who hasn't been charged with any crimes, allegedly gave the brothers $500 cash and an Acura.
Last month investigators questioned a woman who lived with Tony Reed in Ellensburg, Washington, who couldn't find her iPhone. Investigators say that was the phone used by the brothers and that data from it could help lead them to the Reeds by tracking their movements.
"I also believe this is a phone number that Tony and John are still using today (April 28th, 2016), while avoiding apprehension and the records requested will assist law enforcement in identifying their current location," Snohomish County Sheriff's Detective Brad Walvatne wrote in court documents.
Documents do not give details of the sightings in Mexico.
Neighbors reported 46-year-old Monique Patenaude and 45-year-old Patrick Shunn missing on April 12.
Their vehicles were found on April 14 after being dumped over an embankment. Detectives concluded the couple had been killed after they searched the vehicles and the home where John Reed recently lived.
Video surveillance footage also ties the two brothers to the disposal of the couple's vehicles, police told CBS affiliate KIRO. At 3:30 a.m. on April 12, a neighbor's surveillance camera caught the vehicles being simultaneously driven up the remote road on the way to where they were later discovered, a prosecutor wrote.
A neighbor told police they had planned to go to a concert with the couple on April 11, according to a search warrant affidavit, but they stopped returning text messages.
When the neighbors stopped by their Arlington home to check on them, they found the couple's dog which they said was "never left out" running loose, the documents said.
Since then, authorities said they've uncovered evidence indicating Shunn and Patenaude were murdered.
Snohomish County Sheriff's spokeswoman Shari Ireton has said she did not have information about any issues between John Reed and Patenaude and Shunn. But she noted that others had said there was a property dispute.
Other records filed Monday include court orders freezing bank accounts of the brothers' parents, whom authorities say were given at least $96,000 in cashier's checks by John Reed.
Recently obtained warrants allow investigators to search wells and other areas of the missing couple's property and Reed's former land. Investigators have received approval to search another neighbor's property where detectives previously recovered a shotgun and all-terrain vehicle apparently left by John Reed.
Another warrant allows detectives to recover evidence from the ATV that authorities say the brothers may have used when disposing the couple's bodies.
No records have been filed showing if any evidence has been recovered as a result of the searches.