An Arizona man has been arrested in connection with a the kidnapping of a 75-year-old woman in Pearce and the murder of her 67-year-old boyfriend.
The Cochise County Sheriff’s Office was notified by a woman shortly after 8 p.m. on Friday. She reported that while she was in her workshop behind her house that afternoon, a masked man in dark clothing entered, brandishing a gun at her.
He brought her inside the house, where he blindfolded and restrained her.
According to the sheriff’s office, the victim mentioned hearing loud noises shortly after the man entered but was unsure of what was happening. Later, the man relocated her to her own 2007 silver Chevy Avalanche and placed her in the back seat after it got dark.
After stopping at a Dollar General Store and going inside, the perpetrator left the victim alone in the vehicle. Seizing this opportunity, the victim managed to free herself from her restraints and the vehicle, fleeing to a nearby residence to seek assistance.
When deputies arrived, she told them what happened and asked them to contact her boyfriend at her home to let her know she was being treated for minor injuries but would be all right.
Deputies could not get an answer at the door, and when they entered, they found the boyfriend dead.
Investigators identified 37-year-old Rynn Prairie-Rocca as a person of interest, although they did not say how, and the next morning issued a shelter in place for a neighborhood where a barricaded subject was located. Later, they announced it was Prairie-Rocca and he had been taken into custody.
Police did not say what charges he faces or if he was known to the victims.
