Who is Brett Daniel Puett? Arizona man killed female roommate, 64, dumped body in storage unit
KINGMAN, ARIZONA: An Arizona man has been accused of killing his 64-year-old female roommate in November last year before dumping her body in a storage unit. According to authorities, the suspect then took the missing victim's car and made withdrawals from her bank account for nine months, before he was caught.
Brett Daniel Puett, 35, was arrested Friday and booked on suspicion of second-degree murder, abandonment, and concealment of a dead body, and fraud in the death of Debra Lynn Childers, Kingman City Police Chief Rusty Cooper said in a press release on Facebook. The police news release says Puett's age is 35 while his jail booking information indicates he is 36, CNN reported.
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Who is Brett Daniel Puett?
Puett is believed to have been in a platonic relationship with Childers after the pair met last summer while both of them were living in their cars. They had been sharing a motel room last September in Kingsman, around the same time when Childers was shot and killed, police say. After the Kingsman Police Department realized someone had been making cash withdrawals from Childers' bank accounts, following her disappearance, Puett confessed to being involved in Childers' death and using her card to withdraw cash.
"Puett has admitted involvement in the killing and subsequent money withdrawals, as well as transporting and concealing her body," the police said in the press release. The detectives also determined that Puett had been driving around in Childers' car. "On Friday, May 28th, at about 5 pm, with the assistance of MCSO deputies and MAGNET detectives, Puett was located and taken into custody without incident. Puett arrived at the Northfield Ave residence, driving the victim’s vehicle," the release stated.
Puett has been booked into the Mohave County Adult Detention with a bond set at $500,000. No additional suspects are being sought. Police have not released an arrest report. It was not immediately clear if Puett has a lawyer. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Kingsman Police Department detectives.
Childers' body found in duffel bag inside her own storage unit
The authorities became aware of Childers' disappearance after her son reported her missing to the Mohave County Sheriff's Office on May 12. Childers' son, who has not been identified, told authorities he had not heard from his mother for several months and knew she lived in the area of Kingman and Golden Valley.
Authorities became concerned for Childers' welfare and searched two storage units that belonged to her on Friday, May 28. That was when the Kingman Police Department discovered Childers' body which had been placed in a duffel bag and left in a storage unit. "Once inside detectives located a dead body believed to be Debra Childers," Kingsman Police said in a statement. "The body had been concealed in a large duffel bag and appeared to have been inside the storage unit for several months."
Investigators are awaiting formal confirmation on the identity of the remains from the Mohave County Medical Examiner’s Office. However, according to their preliminary report, they believe it belongs to the Childers. Authorities have informed the victim's family.