Remains found in Oklahoma river belong to 4 missing men
Oct 16, 2022, 10:36 PM | Updated: Oct 17, 2022, 3:29 pm
Officials investigate a bridge near the Deep Fork River where bodies were found in Okmulgee, Okla, on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. (Stephen Pingry/Tulsa World via AP)
(Stephen Pingry/Tulsa World via AP)
OKMULGEE, Okla. (AP) — Four Oklahoma men who were last seen riding their bicycles more than a week ago were shot and dismembered, police said Monday, and a man considered a person of interest has since disappeared.
Okmulgee Police Chief Joe Prentice said the bodies found late last week in the Deep Fork River are those of the four missing friends: Mark Chastain, 32, Billy Chastain, 30, Mike Sparks, 32, and Alex Stevens, 29.
The men were believed to have left a house in Okmulgee on bicycles the evening of Oct. 9. The police chief said that the official cause of death was pending but that all four men had gunshot wounds and that their bodies had been dismembered.
Police interviewed a man Friday who owns a scrap yard in the area, but that man has since been reported missing and may be suicidal, Prentice said. No charges have been filed.
The bodies were discovered Friday after a passerby saw something suspicious in the river near a bridge, police said. The bicycles have not yet been found, Prentice said.
The men were all from Okmulgee, which has a population of around 11,000 and is about 40 miles (65 kilometers) south of Tulsa.
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