MORRILTON, Arkansas (AP) — An Alabama man wanted in connection with murders in Oklahoma and Alabama was arrested in Arkansas on Thursday after a manhunt spanning several Southern states, Arkansas State Police said.
Stacy Lee Drake, 50, was arrested around 10 a.m. in a wooded area in Morrilton, state police said. He was arrested “without incident,” the agency said in a brief statement.
Drake is wanted in connection with murders and auto thefts in Oklahoma, Arkansas State Police said. They said he is also wanted on other warrants from multiple jurisdictions, including aggravated robbery, auto theft and murder.
A man and a woman were found dead at a store near Gans, Oklahoma, near the Arkansas border, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said. Both had injuries consistent with homicide, and the agency said Drake was a suspect.
Arkansas authorities had initially said Drake was wanted for three murders in Oklahoma, but OSBI spokesman Hunter McKee said Thursday that Drake was only linked to the two murders in the Gans area.
“We are still investigating what other crimes the suspect may have been involved in,” McKee said, but added that Drake is not wanted for any other murders in Oklahoma.
The bodies of the two victims have been sent to the state medical examiner for identification and to determine the cause of death, the OSBI said.
Drake’s last known address was Birmingham, Alabama. He was being held at the Conway County Detention Center in Arkansas on Thursday. An extradition hearing for Drake was scheduled for Friday morning, the prison warden said. It was not immediately clear whether Drake had a lawyer.
In Alabama, Drake is accused of killing Russell Andrews on May 14, according to the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Office. Captain Jack Kennedy of the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit said there is a warrant out for Drake’s arrest on murder charges. News outlets reported that Andrews, 62, was found dead in the Alcoholics Anonymous building.
Tuscaloosa authorities said Andrews’ vehicle was stolen at the time of his death and was not caught on cameras until hours later while he was traveling on a highway near the Arkansas-Oklahoma border.
The Associated Press
