2016-08-18
3 indicted on charges related to death of man who went missing in 2015 | KVII
Excerpt
After the remains of Andrew Michael Garcia were presumably found at the end of May, 2016, three people were arrested in relation to Garcia's death. Those three people have now been indicted on various charges.Garcia went missing on April 4, 2015, and huma
Robery Clay Hathcoat and Brett Thomas Hughes, both 22-years-old, were indicted on charges of Aggravated Kidnapping, Sexual Abuse and Tampering with Evidence. Clifton Deshaun Baker, 31, was indicted on charges of Tampering with Evidence. (Photos: Potter County Sheriff's Office)
AMARILLO, Texas (KVII) — After the remains of Andrew Michael Garcia were presumably found at the end of May, 2016, three people were arrested in relation to Garcia's death. Those three people have now been indicted on various charges.
Garcia went missing on April 4, 2015, and human remains that police said were likely to be his were found more than one year later, on Rockwell Road near the railroad crossing of I-27 on Tuesday, May 31.
Although police said they could not yet charge anyone with murder, they were able to arrest three people in relation to Garcia's death. On August 18, those three people were indicted.
Robery Clay Hathcoat and Brett Thomas Hughes, both 22-years-old, were indicted on charges of Aggravated Kidnapping, Sexual Abuse and Tampering with Evidence. Clifton Deshaun Baker, 31, was indicted on charges of Tampering with Evidence.
The Aggravated Kidnapping and Sexual Abuse charges are described in the court documents as intentionally or knowingly abducting Garcia by moving him from one place to another with the intent to prevent his liberation and secreting or holding him in a place where he was not likely to be found. Court documents state that these offenses took place by Hathcoat and Hughes on or about April 5, 2015.
Court documents show that the three men committed the act of tampering with evidence by "knowing that an offense had been committed, namely, aggravated kidnapping, did alter, destroy or conceal.......the body of Andrew Michael Garcia, by removing his body from the scene of the offense, with intent to impair its verity, legibility or availability as evidence in any subsequent investigation or official proceeding related to the offense."
When Garcia's remains were possibly found, Lt. Erick Bohannon with the Amarillo Police Department's Special Crimes explained why no one had been charged with murder.
"Right now, we can't say what the cause of death was," Bohannon said. "Absent that, we can't say that somebody murdered Andrew. But, because of the fact that he died and his skeletal remains were found in Randall County, yes, we're going to work it as a homicide."