News up date from LA. Many, La is near the Texas line.----
http://www.thesabineindex.com/index/node/4321
Fugitive spotted in Sabine Parish, detectives investigating sightings
Submitted by Daniel on Mon, 11/08/2010 - 08:50 News
A nationwide manhunt continues for a man suspected of kidnapping and murdering a 12-year-old Nevada girl, whose remains were found in Louisiana.
Louisiana Federal Investigators, working with the Catahoula Parish Sheriff’s Dept. positively identified the skeletal remains as those of Lexis Kaye Roberts. The remains were discovered in a wooded area near Harrisonburg on Oct. 8 by hunters. Evidence of a gunshot wound was discovered.
The FBI has said that the child was last seen with her mother, Suellen Roberts and a man they have identified as Thomas Steven Sanders. The trio was last seen traveling in a silver 2001 Kia Spectra with Nevada license plates. The car had severe damage on the passenger side, authorities said.
On Thursday, Nov. 4, a federal kidnapping warrant was issued for Sanders, charging him with the abduction of the child. Agents are also seeking information on the whereabouts of her mother, Suellen Roberts. She is considered a missing person.
Mrs. Roberts is not a suspect in her daughter’s death and investigators hope she has not met with foul play. Sanders and Roberts reportedly met several months ago in Nevada, before traveling to Arizona and the Grand Canyon National Park over the Labor Day weekend, according to the missing woman’s grandmother.
Agents said that Sanders was legally declared dead in Mississippi back in 1994. They now believe he is alive and that his appearance has changed dramatically over the years.
Federal investigators are still trying to understand how a man who abandoned his family in 1987 and was declared dead 16 years later, lived unnoticed for years. Investigation showed that he was divorced by his wife, Candice Sanders, a year after he disappeared, claiming she was in poverty and was apparently hoping to collect benefits to support their three children.
She was granted a divorce in February 1988 “on the statutory grounds of habitual, cruel and inhuman treatment”, according to a divorce decree obtained by the Associated Press. The couple had married in 1979.
Investigators said that Sanders had been arrested on multiple charges during the time he was believed to be dead, but no law enforcement agency ever discovered the fact. Arrests included possession of drug paraphernalia and a number of traffic and motor vehicle incidents, all in Tennessee. He was sentenced to two years in Georgia for simple battery, and some of the charges involved minors.
Sanders, who has relatives in Louisiana, said they haven’t heard from him in years, according to Toney Edwards, a Catahoula Sheriff’s investigator.
Since identifying the fugitive, investigators have retraced his steps, discovering that he has lived in Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia and Nevada. He had worked as a laborer, welder and scrap metal collector, living under his given name.
Fugitive’s description
According to a description of the fugitive, his upper teeth are missing and he has only two lower teeth. He reportedly has a tattoo on his chest and his abdomen is scarred. He weighs over 200 pounds and has brown eyes.
At one time, Sanders had long white hair and a white beard. However, before leaving Nevada, he cut his hair, dyed it black, and shaved his beard.
Local sighting?
On Thursday, Nov. 4 at 5:18 p.m., a Florien woman notified the Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Dept. that she saw Sanders on the news and that he fits the description of a man who tried to lure her 10-year-old daughter in his truck last week.
The local woman, who lives on the Plainview Road, told local detectives that the man was driving an older model white truck with numerous five gallon buckets in the back. She said it looked like diesel had been spilled down the sides of the truck.
The concerned mother said she had notified Florien school, who in turn advised the bus driver. The bus driver, according to local detectives, said that he noticed a truck parked at Prewitt Chapel Church behind the sign for several days, and when the bus passed, the truck would follow it.
All parish and local units have been notified and faxed copies of Sanders’ photo.
Reports of a sighting in Zwolle were also fielded by Sabine Parish detectives.
Anyone with information concerning the local incident, or information on the fugitive, is asked to contact the Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Dept. at 256-9241. Anyone who has seen Sanders or the mother since Sept. 3, 2010, is to call the FBI tipline at 1-800-225-5324.
