DAYTONA BEACH SHORES, Fla. – A person of interest in the killings of four Oklahoma men who was arrested in Daytona Beach Shores appeared in front of a Volusia County judge on Wednesday.
Officials in Daytona Beach Shores said Joseph L. Kennedy II, 67, was taken into custody after police located a pickup truck reported stolen out of Oklahoma. Officers stopped the pickup near Botefuhr Beach Approach and arrested Kennedy, who faces a charge of grand theft of a motor vehicle.
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Kennedy is a person of interest in the deaths of four men, whose dismembered bodies were found in a river in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. According to the Okmulgee Police Department, the four men — Mark Chastain, Billy Chastain, Mike Sparks and Alex Stevens — were reported missing after disappearing on Oct. 9. Police said the four men were friends.
Kennedy’s vehicle, a blue PT Cruiser, was found abandoned behind an Oklahoma business one day before his arrest in Florida, according to police. Police said the stolen vehicle Kennedy was found in was reported missing to the Okmulgee County Sheriff’s Office earlier this week.
Okmulgee police Chief Joe Prentice would not say Kennedy is a suspect in the deaths of the four men and no charges have been filed in Oklahoma, but he said the man would be brought back to the state for questioning.
Prentice said investigators searched a scrapyard owned by Kennedy and an adjoining property owned by other people. The police chief said evidence of a “violent event” was found on the adjoining property, but did not elaborate.
An official cause of death has not been released, but all four men had gunshot wounds, and their bodies had been dismembered, according to the police chief.
Police said Kennedy was questioned about the killings, but then he disappeared.
The Okmulgee Police Department said a warrant was issued for his arrest in Okmulgee County stemming from a shooting in 2012. Police in Oklahoma said the district attorney and sheriff were beginning the process to extradite him back to Oklahoma.
The investigation is ongoing.
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