GUILTY AZ - Rodney Puckett, 70, tells police wife died, but he took her along for rest of road trip

[PastTense]

A 70-year-old man was stopped on Interstate 10 in Arizona Monday with his dead wife strapped in the passenger seat.

Eloy police, in a statement released Monday, said Rodney Puckett of Oklahoma was stopped in the area of Toltec Road, south of Casa Grande, by an Eloy police detective for a traffic violation. The officer, identified as Eloy Detective Adam Edmonds, was speaking with Puckett when he noticed a deceased woman sitting in the passenger seat, police said. The woman was identified as Puckett's wife, 74-year-old Linda Puckett. Rodney Puckett explained to Edmonds that he and his wife had been on a road trip when his wife died at a hotel in Texas. "He moved her body into their vehicle, continuing towards their destination,'' the police statement said.

Oklahoma man tells Eloy police wife died, but he took her along for rest of road trip

 

[musicaljoke]

From the article: "Rodney Puckett was booked into the Pinal County Jail on a count of abandonment or concealment of a body. He could face additional charges, police added."

It doesn't seem to me that he either abandoned or concealed the body! I bet the police figured they ought to charge him with something, but what?

 

[KatzEye]

Not sure if this is the same man, but it seems likely. He was the subject of a Silver Alert in OK back in April.

Silver Alert cancelled for 70-year-old Sand Springs man

SAND SPRINGS, Okla. – The Sand Springs Police Department has issued a Silver Alert for a missing 70-year-old man.

Officials are looking for Rodney Puckett who is described as a white male last seen wearing eyeglasses on a red lanyard and a gold square diamond ring.

His last known location is in Sand Springs on April 17 around 11 a.m.

Police say Puckett is bipolar and left without his medication. He is also unable to be mobile for long periods of time due to extreme back pain.

He was found roughly a week later in jail in Kansas. Seems he has some mental difficulties and is fond of travelling. MOO

 

[KatzEye]

Yep - same guy.

Arizona Police: Sand Springs man had dead, estranged wife in car

The couple, who married in 2011, were divorcing. Linda was issued a protective order from her husband on Feb. 6
and it was continued today, records show. Linda filed for divorce on Feb. 8, records show.

In another connection, Rodney was reported missing in April, but the Silver Alert for him was canceled once it was found he had not been heard from because he was in a Kansas jail for eluding. The Silver Alert said he has bipolar disorder.

Bolding mine.

 

[doodles1211]

Looks like they were divorcing....

A Sand Springs man is in custody in Arizona after police there say they stopped him and found he was driving with his dead wife in the passenger seat.

Sand Springs Police confirmed Rodney Puckett was the subject of a Silver Alert a few weeks ago. That alert was canceled after he was arrested in Kansas two weeks ago for alluding police. Officers say they are not sure how Puckett reconnected with his wife, Linda, for a road trip after that.


Police in Eloy Arizona say Puckett told them his wife died in a hotel in Texas and that he loaded her body into the car to continue to their destination. The Medical Examiner in Arizona will determine how she died. Puckett is in custody for concealing a body.

Sand Springs Man Found With Wife's Dead Body In Arizona

BBM

I agree. I do not see any abandonment or concealment of a dead body here. But, geez.... what and where was he going with her?

 

[tmar]

Oklahoma man tells Eloy police wife died, but he took her along for rest of road trip

Well, the autopsy may provide answers, and possibly more charges.
MOO.

 

[tmar]

From KatzEye, in previous post, "He is also unable to be mobile for long periods of time due to extreme back pain."
Strange, his back pain did not stop him carrying his dead wife to the car.
OR did she suddenly die, while in the car, so he didn't need to carry her.
Well, we will find out soon.
MOO.

 

[Tripod]

Gotta follow this one

 

[MsFacetious]

Well. I'll wait for a cause of death before I defend this guy. If she died of natural causes then I vote he gets psychiatric help not jail time.

 

[jjenny]

Sh filed for divorce and had a protective order against him, per article linked above. Then she goes on a road trip with him? I would wait for cause of death.

 

[Seattle1]

From KatzEye, in previous post, "He is also unable to be mobile for long periods of time due to extreme back pain."
Strange, his back pain did not stop him carrying his dead wife to the car.
OR did she suddenly die, while in the car, so he didn't need to carry her.
Well, we will find out soon.
MOO.

He told LE she died in Texas hotel.
Would not want to be in charge of this investigation!

 

[Seattle1]

Oklahoma man, 70, found driving with dead estranged wife, 74, strapped in passenger seat in Arizona | Daily Mail Online

• Rodney Puckett, 70, was arrested Monday after police found a dead woman in the passenger seat of his car during a traffic stop in Eloy, Arizona
• The deceased was identified as Rodney's estranged wife Linda Puckett, 74
• Rodney claimed the couple were on a road trip when Linda died at a Texas hotel
• He moved her body into the car and continued to their undisclosed destination
• Eloy Police and Texas authorities will determine if Linda's death was a homicide
• Linda filed for divorce in February and had a protection order against Rodney

 

[kaen]

I would guess that he was concealing that she was dead by having her travel in the passenger seat as if she was alive. I would usually think of this as hiding someone in the trunk but driving with her as if she was alive could be considered concealment. In many states you are not allowed to transport a body except within the given statute. He didn't tell the officer she was dead while he knew she was so he was concealing her death in this way as well.

It says he was taking her to an undisclosed location which means he may have been about to abandon her body.

Her poor family and that poor officer.

Arizona legislation: 13-2926. Abandonment or concealment of a dead body; classification

A. It is unlawful for a person to knowingly move a dead human body or parts of a human body with the intent to abandon or conceal the dead human body or parts.

B. This section does not apply to the disposition, transportation or other handling of dead human remains for any purpose authorized under title 32, chapter 12, title 32, chapter 20, article 6 and title 36, chapters 3 and 7.

C. A person who violates this section is guilty of a class 5 felony.

 

[nyonge]

In the movie National Lampoon's Vacation, Aunt Edythe winds up in Arizona, where she is also discovered dead in a vehicle near Tucson.

 

[teedie2]

In the movie National Lampoon's Vacation, Aunt Edythe winds up in Arizona, where she is also discovered dead in a vehicle near Tucson.

That's the first thing that popped into my mind. At least she wasn't strapped into a rocking chair sitting on top of the car. Chevy Chase was funny, this is NOT. Maybe we will find out what this man had in mind. Nothing good, betcha!

People are strange.

 

[PastTense]

An Oklahoma man who was stopped Monday off Interstate 10 in Arizona with his wife's dead body in the passenger seat was sitting in only his underwear, while the deceased woman's body was nude and placed with her head near the floorboards, the police said Tuesday. Eloy Police said an initial exam of the woman by the Pinal County Medical Examiner's Office found signs of "minor blunt force'' trauma on her body, but a cause of death still had not been determined. Surveillance video from an El Paso, Texas, hotel shows the man wheeling out what appears to be a body on a luggage cart Monday morning, Eloy police said.

Police: Video appears to show man wheeling wife's body out of hotel on luggage cart

 

[teedie2]

I assumed the wife was sitting in the front passenger seat. Oh, my gosh, he put her in there upside down! Yep, he sure needs help, and he needs to take his meds. I can't imagine what the LE thought when he saw that situation.

 

[doodles1211]

Just heard on the radio that LE was called on him because he had pulled into a fast food drive thru with only his underwear on and she was in the passenger's seat upside down with her head stuffed under the dashboard. The cashier called police.
They are only saying that she has minor blunt force trauma. Going to look for msm.

 

[nyonge]

Just heard on the radio that LE was called on him because he had pulled into a fast food drive thru with only his underwear on and she was in the passenger's seat upside down with her head stuffed under the dashboard. The cashier called police.
They are only saying that she has minor blunt force trauma. Going to look for msm.

At the drive-through window of the Carl’s Jr. restaurant in Eloy, Arizona, the naked driver who rode through with the naked woman in the passenger seat of the Volkswagen SUV around 7:20 a.m. Monday caught the attendant’s eye.

The worker alerted an Eloy police detective who happened to be inside the restaurant, and the detective, concerned about the occupants’ welfare, located the vehicle a short distance away.​

Ariz. Cops Pull Over Naked Man — and Discover His Wife's Dead Body in Passenger Seat

Other reports do say man was in his underpants.

 

[doodles1211]

Here we are.... oh geez she had no clothes on either.

According to a Tuesday press release from the department, Puckett was stopped after a fast food restaurant employee told an officer that a vehicle with two nude people had used the drive-thru.
The release said the deceased woman, identified later as Linda Puckett, was nude and the driver was dressed only in underwear.
http://ktar.com/story/2573747/arizona-police-arrest-70-year-old-traveling-with-wifes-dead-body/