Bodies of missing women found in Northern California. Man arrested in double homicide
Amador County sheriff’s detectives arrested a man Thursday after investigators found the bodies of two missing women in Ione, one discovered in a RV and the other in a storage unit.
Dante Michael Campbell, 49, was arrested on suspicion of two counts of murder in connection with the deaths of the two women, the Amador County Sheriff’s Office announced in a news release Friday. Authorities did not release the names of the missing women.
Sheriff’s officials said the bodes of the women were taken to Sacramento for a forensic autopsy examination and positive identification. Authorities are expected to release their names once they have been identified and their families have been notified.
The manner and cause of each death has not been determined and is pending the results of the forensic autopsies, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
The discoveries followed a report Wednesday that sheriff’s detectives had received information of a missing woman in which foul play was suspected. The detectives also received conflicting information that the missing woman might be in Louisiana.
The detectives conducted interviews and gathered additional information that indicated Campbell was dating the missing woman.
On Thursday, the detectives went to a home in the 5500 block of Park Circle in the Oaks Mobile Home Park in Ione, a few miles south of Highway 88 and west of Lake Amador, to question Campbell.
Sheriff’s officials said deputies had been in the area conducting surveillance on the home and spotted Campbell in an RV at a storage facility across the street from the mobile home park.
The detectives questioned Campbell there and gathered enough information to obtain probable cause search warrants for Campbell’s home and the RV Campbell was in at the storage facility, according to the news release.
The detectives entered the RV and discovered the body of an unidentified woman. Sheriff’s crime scene investigators subsequently arrived at the scene, examining the RV in a search for evidence.
As deputies were serving the search warrant at Campbell’s home, they were approached by someone who reported another missing woman, who was possibly last seen with Campbell about 2 a.m. earlier that morning.
The detectives began developing leads in that woman’s disappearance, which brought them to another storage unit in Ione, according to the Sheriff’s Office. The detectives obtained another search warrant for that storage unit.
Sheriff’s officials said the search in the storage unit late Thursday revealed another woman’s body “consistent with the manner in which the other victim was found.” The Sheriff’s Office did not indicate in what manner the bodies were found.
Campbell on Friday morning remained in custody at the Amador County Jail. He was being held without bail.
