This past Friday, it was six years since the remains of 19-year-old Carina Saunders were found inside a duffel bag behind a store in Bethany, Oklahoma. Also this past Friday, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation renewed the $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Carina’s killer. This reward has been offered multiple times in the past but has to be renewed after 90 days according to state law. Also, $10,000 is the maximum reward that can be legally offered in the state of Oklahoma.

Many theories abound as to why Carina was murdered and dismembered. The prevailing thought is that Carina was somehow involved with human trafficking, and was killed to make an example. Several suspects have been previously arrested for her murder but charges were dropped, however charges could be refiled at a later time if any conclusive evidence indicates those suspects were involved.

Earlier this year, police seized items, which belonged to Carina, from a home where Carina was last seen alive. The person who owned the home was believed to have prostituted Carina but maintains his innocence. State investigators also believe there is a cell phone video of Carina’s murder in someone’s possession.

Call OSBI at 1-800-522-8017 with information or email a tip to tips@osbi.ok.gov.

A new development has been made public in the investigation into the murder of 19-year-old Carina Saunders. For those of you new to the site, Carina was murdered in 2011 and parts of her dismembered body were found in a duffle bag behind a store in Bethany, Oklahoma. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) says they believe there is a video of Carina’s murder somewhere out there and have offered a $10,000 reward for receipt of the video. Two men were arrested for her murder, but the charges were withdrawn, for now.

More recently, the OSBI searched two properties in Oklahoma City that belonged to a guy named Kenny Richards. Several items were collected at the sites by state investigators, although they have not commented on what those items are. Richards is believed to have prostituted Carina and is believed to have been the last person who saw Carina alive.

Now, court records have stated the OBSI received a cell phone from the DEA that contained a picture of Carina Saunders. The phone was seized by the DEA during a drug operation. The phone is said to belong to one Kenny Richards. Richards has stated publicly Carina was a friend of his and he did not kill her.

What I would like to know is what is it about the picture that made it important to the OBSI? Is it something in the picture itself, the date, or something else contained in the photo’s data? So far what I’m taking away from this is there’s a picture of Carina on a phone that belonged to a person of interest in the investigation, but someone who also knew Carina personally. To put it bluntly, I’m not seeing the big deal so far.

I have my own thoughts on Richards himself, but I won’t expound on those since he has not been charged with any crime related to Carina’s murder.
more “Cell phone seized in drug raid may be connected to Carina Saunders’ murder”

Recently, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations had searched two properties in Oklahoma City and had found items of interest in the murder investigation of Carina Saunders. Now, a search warrant used by the OBSI has been released, detailing the items that they had found.

The warrants indicates a folding knife, shirt, windbreaker jacket, and slip-on sandals were recovered during the three-day excavation in Northwest Oklahoma City.

As has been mentioned previously, it could be months before any forensic evidence can reveal if these items are related to Carina’s murder.

What I also found interesting about the News9 article that I linked to above, is they seem to insinuate Kenny Richards may have had more involvement in the murder than he’s letting on. I hate to talk about someone who at least has not been arrested for the crime I’m posting about, but the property these items were found on belonged to Richards, and News9 has said court records show investigators had received tips claiming Richards allegedly drove Carina to where her body was found and he had buried her belongings in a metal drum on his property. Richards has steadfastly denied any involvement in Carina’s murder.

While I’m not necessarily defending Richards, in my opinion it seems like Carina’s murder was a multi-person affair. By walking an accusatory thin line, certain news outlets could be potentially jeopardizing the investigation by putting too much of the spotlight on any one person of interest. The brutal way Carina met her end demands justice and doesn’t need any more hindrances in bringing the guilty to justice.

Another odd development in an already bizarre story. After agents of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations finished examining some Oklahoma City properties in the Carina Saunders murder investigation, the person who once owned the properties responded to a local news station.

As mentioned in my previous post, the man who used to own the properties is Kenny Richards. Not only is he believed to have allegedly prostituted Carina, he’s also believed to be the last person to see her alive according to news reports. After his name appeared in the news earlier this week he sent a series of text messages to local TV station News 9.

In a series of text messages, Richards said, “It [sic] all wrong…I told police everything I know.”

Richards explained via text Wednesday evening, “She [Saunders] was a friend of mine…I miss her, too!!” … “I have nothing more to say!!”

I’d be interested in knowing if News 9 reached out to Richards or if he reached out to them. They left that more than a little vague in their article.

The article does mention what items investigators were specifically looking for.

Saunders’ personal items were listed including shoes, socks, bra, underwear, belt, T-shirt, handbag and her wallet.

Investigators were also hoping to recover parts of her body that have been missing since she was found dismembered in a duffel bag in Bethany.

Considering they wrapped up their investigation of the properties early and said that the OSBI recovered items of interest, could they be finally getting closer to bringing Carina’s brutal killer or killers to justice? We can only hope.

Yesterday, I posted that agents of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations had been searching two vacant properties in Oklahoma City for the additional remains of Carina Saunders. Today, agents said that they have found what they’re calling ‘items of interest’ after searching the Oklahoma City properties. Carina was murdered in 2011, and her partial remains were found in a duffle bag in Bethany, Oklahoma.

Investigators haven’t said what the items they found were, but said the items need to go under extensive forensic testing before any conclusions can be drawn from them.

What was not mentioned in yesterday’s news is that the properties they searched had once belonged to a man by the name of Kenny Richards. Richards is believed to have allegedly prostituted Carina shortly before her death. Human trafficking has been a recurring thread in this investigation, as there was once an assumption that Carina was killed in order to intimidate others into working for a sex trafficking ring. There is also believed to be a video of Carina’s murder out there in the wild and the state is offering a $10,000 award for any information leading to the arrest of Carina’s killer.

Again, if you have any information about Carina’s murder please contact the OSBI Hotline at 1 (800) 522-8017.

Agents of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations have been searching two vacant properties in Oklahoma City for the additional remains of Carina Saunders. Carina was 19 when she was killed in 2011. Her dismembered body was found in a duffle bag behind a store in Bethany, Oklahoma. I was under the assumption that her complete remains had been found, but apparently I was mistaken.

Agents are using ground-penetrating radar in order to possibly find the last of Carina’s remains. The properties were rumored to have been occupied by people who allegedly knew who killed Carina but were too afraid to come forward due to fear of being killed themselves. While some may find this outrageous behavior, I can kind of understand because in the past there has been a theory that Carina may have been killed by a Mexican drug cartel as a way to send a message to someone close to her. While that may or may not be true, I could see how that could scare a neighborhood into silence.

So far the OBSI has not released what led them to check these properties or if they have found anything as of yet.

Investigators are still asking that if anyone has any information about Carina’s murder please contact the OSBI Hotline at 1 (800) 522-8017.
more “OSBI searching for possible additional remains of Carina Saunders”

19-year-old Carina Saunders’ mutilated body was found in a duffle bag behind a store in Bethany, Oklahoma, in 2011. It’s been long rumored that a video exists of Carina’s murder, now the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) believes that the video does exist. A week and a half ago the OBSI held a press conference where they have offered a $10,000 reward for the video.

The OBSI also released additional details about Carina’a murder and initial disappearance…

Family members last saw Saunders on Sept. 28, 2011, and her body was found Oct. 13, 2011. Investigators have located surveillance video from Oct. 8, 2011, outside the Newcastle Casino. Saunders is seen getting into a red, four-door Ford pickup with a brush guard and lights on the top, Florence said.

The only description of anyone inside the pickup is a man with full tattoo sleeves on both arms, he said.

“Also worth making note of is that there were girls nearby in a dark car who were pleading with Carina not to go with them. To this date, we don’t know who those girls were, but we would like to know who they were,” Florence said. “If they will come forward, we’d like to talk to them, find out what they saw, what they witnessed, why they were concerned about Carina’s safety and getting in this red pickup.”

It has been thought that Carina’s murder had something to do with human trafficking. Two suspects had been previously arrested, however charges against them were dropped after the OBSI took over the investigation due to lack of evidence at the time. However the charges were dropped without prejudice, so the suspects could be arrested again if the evidence supports it.

If you have any information, call the OSBI Hotline at 1 (800) 522-8017.

(Source)

In 2011, 19-year-old Carina Saunders was brutally murdered and her dismembered body was found in a duffel bag behind a store in Bethany, Oklahoma. Arrest had been made in her murder but the individuals arrested have had the murder charges against them dropped. The case is currently being handled by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations.

News Station KOCO in Oklahoma City recently released the following video about her murder…

Anyone with any information regarding Carina’s murder is asked to please call the OSBI at 1-800-522-8017.