Delia D'Ambra

However, in May, just a few months after providing that response, the sheriff's office found themselves in charge of yet another double homicide at a rural campsite in their jurisdiction.

According to coverage in the Arizona Republic, on Monday, May 3, 2004, U.S.

Forest Service employees stumbled upon two men dead from gunshot wounds at a campsite in an area about one hour west of where Lisa and Brandon had been discovered.

Those two victims were quickly identified as 65-year-old William Raymond Ray Middaw and 74-year-old Omer Lee Casey.

William, who seemed most often to go by the nickname Ray, so that's what I'll refer to him as from here on out, lived in Yuma, Arizona.

He and Omer, who resided in Somerton, were old friends who'd gone camping at a popular spot in the desert a few miles north of Lake Pleasant.

Ray was a longtime hunter and sportsman who had a lot of experience in Arizona's mountains and deserts.

He was a stroke survivor, devoted Christian, former welder, grandfather, and husband who had recently celebrated 46 years of marriage with his wife.

Omer was also a grandfather, avid outdoorsman, and husband who'd been married to his wife for 56 years.

He was a skilled machinist who'd formerly worked in the seed harvesting industry and actually held two patents for devices that improved harvesting seed crops.

Their story is one that I hope to cover in more detail in a future episode, but for now, I'll summarize the high points to stay on track.

Within a day of the men's bodies being found, the sheriff's office identified a 21-year-old man from Phoenix named Rusty Rankin as the prime suspect for their murders.

Rusty's father was a veteran police officer for the Phoenix Police Department who, according to an article by the Arizona Republic, had realized his service weapon was missing the morning after Ray and Omer were found.

Initial information obtained by homicide detectives suggested that Rusty had been camping near Ray and Omer around the time of the crime, and his vehicle had also been discovered not far from their bodies.

By the night of May 4th, authorities had tracked Rusty to a motel in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where they were confident he was hiding out.

A tense standoff ensued, and later that night, Rusty eventually agreed to surrender, but shortly before cooperating, decided to die by suicide.

When investigators got into his motel room, they found four handguns, but initially weren't sure if any of those firearms were related to Ray and Omer's murders.

Further ballistics testing had to be done to determine if Rusty's father's service weapon was the gun used in the killings.

But it's unclear from the available source material if that was ever established.

What is clear, though, is that Rusty's suicide essentially brought Ray and Omer's murder investigation to an end.