MOSSY HEAD–A Mossy Head couple has been arrested in connection with a local man's murder.
Chrispen Ramirez, 22, and Haley Nicole Bowden, 16, a runaway juvenile, both of Mossy Head, were arrested for fleeing from authorities after deputies first searched for the teen on an unrelated charge, Sheriff Michael A. Adkinson, Jr. announced.
The pair had fled on foot before K-9 units tracked them down.
"Ramirez was armed with knives at the scene and threatened the lives of the deputies. Authorities subdued Ramirez and both were transported to the Walton County Department of Corrections," a WCSO spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, deputies found a vehicle partially submerged in water just off Beaver Dam Road, where a resident earlier complained of someone trespassing to abandon a vehicle.
The license plate was missing, but authorities identified the owner, Arthur Gerald Anderson, 77, of Mossy Head, with a vehicle identification number.
They located his body, not far from the vehicle, shortly afterward.
"Bowden and Ramirez murdered Anderson after he confronted them for entering a residence on West Juniper Avenue (that) he was a caretaker of. The couple then attempted to burn the residence, stole Anderson’s vehicle, and dumped it later," a WCSO spokesperson said.
Ramirez was charged with assault on a law enforcement officer, interference with child custody, arson, and an open count of murder. Bowden was charged with resisting an officer without violence, arson and an open count of murder.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Mossy Head couple arrested in connection with murder