‘Dead’ Man Arrested in Louisiana Girl’s Kidnapping
- Posted on November 15, 2010 at 7:34am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A man who was declared legally dead 16 years ago in Mississippi was arrested Sunday in the kidnapping of a slain Las Vegas girl whose body was found in the woods of central Louisiana, the FBI said.
FBI spokeswoman Sheila Thorne said Thomas Steven Sanders was arrested early Sunday at a truck stop in Gulfport, Miss. The arrest capped a massive manhunt in a bizarre case that stretched across the country.
Court documents obtained by The Associated Press show Sanders abandoned his family in 1987 and was declared dead by a Mississippi court 1994. He lived unnoticed for years despite being arrested several times.
Sanders was wanted in the kidnapping 12-year-old Lexis Roberts, whose skeleton was found by hunters early last month. Her 31-year-old mother, Suellen Roberts, is missing. Officials say she is not a suspect in her daughters death — and they hope she has not met with foul play.
Thorne said Sanders was alone when he was arrested at the Flying J Truck Stop by FBI agents and Harrison County Sheriff’s deputies.
Despite being declared dead, Sanders had been able to move about the country easily. Investigators know he lived in Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Georgia and Nevada. He worked as a laborer, a welder and a scrap metal collector.
According to records obtained by the AP, his 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. State and federal authorities have said some of the charges involved minors, but they refused to elaborate.
In Nevada, Sanders met Suellen Roberts and her daughter Lexis a few months ago, Robert’s grandmother told investigators. The trio was in Williams and Flagstaff Ariz., and the Grand Canyon National Park over the Labor Day weekend, authorities said.
Hunters found Lexis’ remains in Catahoula Parish Oct. 8. There was evidence she had been shot.
Officials said security cameras showed Sanders buying ammunition on Sept. 3 at a Walmart in Las Vegas. The bullets he bought were consistent with the weapon used to kill Lexis, police said.
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TakeBackAmerica
Posted on November 18, 2010 at 2:34pmSNOWLEOPARD:
Do you have a job? Ever sleep? Eat? Have sex? How on earth do you have time to read and post to every story on the blaze? Just sayin…..
Report Post »mharvey914
Posted on November 15, 2010 at 11:44amIt would only take a few times of hanging them in the city square and leaving them there while the birds and animals clean their bones before people would think about the consequences of their actions. The state-of-the-art Cook County Prison is sure not going to do it. Let’s actually punish crime and protect the innocent!
Report Post »bookofwisdom
Posted on November 15, 2010 at 10:35amHow sad. I‘m sure mother and daughter are together in God’s love. I too believe, if you take a life you forfeit a life (yours). This man prays on young girls and should not live after committing a crime of this nature. May God Bless.
Report Post »inthebegining111
Posted on November 15, 2010 at 10:15amTired of taking care of these animals.. I agree shoot him…Give him his day in court but then set up the firing squad. Easier then what he gave the weakest among him. The guy in Pa should have been executed also. Tired of paying for these people.
The thing is there is an enourmous amount of our children and women who are being sexually abused and folks if any of them survive the pain and torture that is so widely accepted and laughed at later by the diseased minds of these people they learned to hate and distrust all.
what a crime against humanity. Why do we not talk about love anymore and committment. A good man to a women and children. It is a truely beautiful and precious life to pass on.
The confusion above is because they are talking about a current case in Ohio and one In Louisiana.
Report Post »BurntHills
Posted on November 15, 2010 at 9:46amokay, they got him, they know he killed her, now take him out back and shoot him. case closed.
Report Post »mickie4
Posted on November 15, 2010 at 8:58amNeedy woman with young daughters are too anxious to take men into their famlies without regard to the danger they may bring in.
Report Post »bulletboy
Posted on November 15, 2010 at 8:54amWell, this guy is already dead….So make him dead!
Report Post »grandmaof5
Posted on November 15, 2010 at 7:51amVery sad for the family of this poor little girl. Hopefully mom will be found alive. It does illustrate, however, how terrorist manage to move about the US with such ease. Obviously the communication between states is poor or no one ever bothered to check his background. One slip and an innocent child becomes the victim of a dead criminal.
Report Post »snowleopard3200 {mix art}
Posted on November 15, 2010 at 8:52amSimple post, Thank God the girl is safe, hope the family is found alive soon; and for the pervert who took her, just shoot him.
Report Post »tom
Posted on November 15, 2010 at 9:10am@snowleopard
What the h3ll are you saying “thank god the girl is safe”? Did you even read the stroy?
Report Post »midcoastmainepatriot
Posted on November 15, 2010 at 7:47amEvil and sick……send him to hell quickly
Report Post »Shurmus
Posted on November 15, 2010 at 7:41amHis neighbors said he was such a nice guy, kinda kept to himself.
Report Post »HouseNegro
Posted on November 15, 2010 at 7:41amQ. Why don’t we just shoot perverts as soon as we catch them?
A. Because demorates would loose a VOTER.
Shurmus
Posted on November 15, 2010 at 7:58amI’ve always said that there is a fine line between the willingness to give and the capacity for being taking advantage of. Your treatment of pedophilicmaniacals proves you guys are pretty just. Few beings could show such restraint towards predators of the young, pure, and innocent.
http://www.slugbuddies.com
Report Post »superbyelich
Posted on November 15, 2010 at 8:18amToo bad we don’t have some kind of national ID system, so that we all have to get a chip in us when we are born, then we could just track people dead or alive, and nothing like this would ever happen…
Report Post »john seven eighteen
Posted on November 15, 2010 at 8:41am@Shurmus
Just curious, to whom are you referring? I’m trying to figure out your comment. Thanks.
Report Post »Shurmus
Posted on November 15, 2010 at 9:40am@JOHN 7:18
Hello. Just trying to point out that modern human society seems to give pedophiles a pretty big break on their actions, considering the life destroying ramifications of their behaviors.
True, unguarded human emotion towards pedophiles is really only demonstrated (on a regular basis) inside prisons. In there they kill them, right?
Report Post »untameable-kate
Posted on November 15, 2010 at 10:30amI fall into the “shoot them” group.
Report Post »I guess we are too busy aborting innocents to do anything to murdering pedophiles.
Annette
Posted on November 15, 2010 at 1:34pmthis is one area where I believe regulation of the Internet is necessary. I know it is a slippery slope, but the Internet (I believe) is making these perverts act on their fantasies more. KInd of like when Glenn told us we are not alone many people believe in the constitution, libertarian/conservative values with the 912 project. However, I feel the same is true for pedophiles. The Interent has helped them justify their thoughts, mold their fantasies, shown them there are many others out there so they are not the only pervs out there.
Housenegro…your name is ridiculous…
Report Post »Rapunzel
Posted on November 15, 2010 at 3:08pmAnnette, I respectfully disagree. The internet is just a tool. In the absence of the internet, the perverts would just go back to older, tried and true distribution methods.
The real culprit is a godless society‘s acceptance of sexual perversion and deviation as ’normal’. First it was adultery and premarital sex; once those became socially acceptable it was homosexuality. Next will come pedophilia, followed by bestiality and necrophilia if we don’t wake up!
HouseNegro
Posted on November 15, 2010 at 5:36pmAnnette…your name is ridiculous too…
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