Arizona authorities have identified the body of a murdered woman found last week near the bottom of a Phoenix river and have arrested a 61-year-old man in connection with her death.
Amy Ruby Leagans, 49, left her family in Illinois and moved to Chandler, Arizona last April for a new beginning, her relatives said.
But since October 21, the family didn’t hear from her and reported her missing six days later. Her body was found near the Salt River bottom on November 17.
The victim’s sister, Christa Holton, said that she did not appear to have any troubles with her new life in Arizona, even joking that “on Christmas, she’d be in a bathing suit, while we’re all hunkered down in our winter clothes.”
“To lose her is definitely tough. I will never be the same,” Holton said.
After conducting a search into her residence, detectives discovered “suspicious circumstances” and shortly later, Timothy Sullivan was named a suspect in her disappearance.
The man was arrested on Wednesday. Detectives said that “obvious signs of foul play” were depicted on Leagans’ body.
