Police say that a body found in a suitcase in Arkansas is the remains of a New York man. They’re now trying to figure out why a woman drove over 1,000 miles with the victim’s bones.
According to Police Lt. Dave Gilbo of the Johnstown, New York, PD, the victim died of natural causes. A 56-year-old Virginia Colvin, is accused of driving the unidentified elderly man’s remains from Johnstown, New York, to Arkansas.
“At this point in time, we believe that he died of natural causes…We just can’t determine why the body was transported from here to Arkansas.”
On Sunday night, Prairie County Sheriff’s Office received a call stating that someone spotted a body in the back of a pickup truck. Colvin and another suspect, Michael Stivers, were in the truck when police pulled them over. Police didn’t find anything suspicious in the truck, but authorities arrested Colvin on Wednesday after they found the remains thrown in a farm off of Graham Road, around 50 miles from Arkansas. She’s charged with abuse of a corpse and is being held at the Prairie County jail.
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Gilbo stated that investigators are looking into whether the deceased man and/or the federal government were possibly victims of fraud. He indicated that there were several other cases in New York where people attempted to collect the social security benefits of people who passed away.
AT 10: Hear one possible reason why police think Michael Stivers and Virginia Lee Colvin stuffed a man's body in a suitcase, then dumped it pic.twitter.com/UnSRrHe6hs
— Kimberly Rusley (@KATVKimberly) March 10, 2017
Stivers was arrested unrelated charges on Wednesday, but on Thursday, police charged him with felony abuse of a corpse as well. According to Johnstown police, both Colvin and Stivers lived with a 90-year-old man in New York.
Meanwhile, the man’s remains were sent to the Arkansas crime lab, where they’re attempting to uncover the man’s identity exactly how he died.
[Feature Photo: Arkansas State Police]
