Police in suburban Detroit announced Sunday one of two people accused of impersonating utility workers and murdering an elderly man at his home had been apprehended.
Carlos Jose Hernandez, 37, was arrested on murder and other charges, the Oakland County Sheriff's Office said in a social media post. Hernandez was set to be extradited back to Michigan from Louisiana.
As of Sunday, the search for a second suspect remained ongoing.
According to authorities, Hernandez was one of two men who pretended to be a utility worker, murdered an elderly man and tied up his wife inside their home in Rochester Hills, approximately 28 miles north of Detroit. On Friday, a 72-year-old woman called police and reported she had been tied up and her hands were duct taped. The woman reported her husband may have been kidnapped.
Deputies conducted a search of the home and found the husband's body in the home's basement. He was identified as Hussein Murray, 72, a local small business owner, reported to WDIV, the NBC affiliate in Detroit.
The cause of his death wasn't immediately clear, police said, citing the extent of his injuries.
The woman told law enforcement the two suspects came to the house a night prior, claiming there was gas leak, but the couple was not home at the time. When the men arrived at the home on Friday, they were permitted inside and were escorted by her husband to check for a gas leak in the basement, deputies said.
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When her husband didn't come upstairs, the woman assumed he had been kidnapped.
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It wasn't immediately clear if any items had been taken from the home.
The Oakland County Sheriff's Office released a snippet of Ring doorbell camera video showing one suspect, who is heard on camera saying, "We're DTE, we're checking for gas leaks" as he appears to hold a piece of paper and clipboard in the camera's view.
