A Wisconsin teenager was arrested in Iowa and is more than 800 miles from the home where his mother and stepfather were murdered, authorities said Tuesday.
Wakeney Police Chief Michael Romero said in a statement that the boy was stopped at 11:25pm in Wakeney, Iowa, and at 11:25pm on Friday.
“Subjects were detained without further incidents. Subjects were identified and it turns out that a juvenile from Wisconsin was wanted,” Romero added. “The subject is someone interested in double murder, which the Wisconsin Sheriff’s Office is still under investigation.”
Romero refused the driver’s name, but Waukesha County prosecutors identified the teen as a 17-year-old student at Waukesha West High School.
The boy’s mother and her husband were found deadly shot at Waukesha’s home Friday afternoon when the local government conducted a welfare check.
According to criminal charges filed against the teenager, the woman’s face was “blackened from breakdown with dry blood on the floor around her.”
The woman’s husband was also found with “evident wounds behind his head” in a home “covered in a pile of clothes,” the complaint said.
The teenager was charged with stealing a firearm with his stepfather, Volkswagen Atlas.
The victim was identified as Donald Mayer, the mother of a teenager, and his wife, Tatiana Kassup, Mayer’s mother told NBC News.
Donald Mayer, 51, and Casap were married for nine years after meeting online while living in Moldova, their mother, Judith Mayer, said.
“Donald had no other children, so when he got married he enjoyed having a son, and they did what his father and son was,” Judith Mayer said. “They went to all sorts of places, to the beaches, to the ballparks.
Judith Mayer was impressed by how quickly Casap’s son picked up English and said he couldn’t remember the tension between him and his son.
According to criminal charges, the teenager was unable to attend classes for two weeks and was fully present before urging a request for welfare checks from school officials.
“He did very well in school, he did well,” Judth Mayer said. “He was quiet and polite. The teacher never said anything was wrong.”
A family neighbor saw the 17-year-old driving his stepfather, Volkswagen, on Feb. 23, the complaint said.
A voice on the phone indicated that he left Waukesha around 10am on February 24th and “takes a general route through Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming and Colorado.”
He said cell phone records showed he visited the world’s largest truck stop in Walcott, Iowa from 2:25pm to 2:50pm the day he left Waukesha.
Security cameras nearby showed a teenager driving a Volkswagen Atlas, accompanied by a small black dog from his family, court documents said.
Records found at the victim’s home showed Mayer owned a Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum.
The gun, the victim’s driver’s license and used shell casing were all found in Atlas, prosecutors said.
Judith Mayer said her son had a gun for protection but was unaware of the ongoing threat.
Mayer and his step-son both had green thumbs and enjoyed work outside.
“He (Mayer) loves flowers,” Judith Mayer said. “There was always a lot of planting flowers and trees. Whenever he went out to do something, he always asked to come with (Casap’s son) and they worked together.”
