SEQUOYAH COUNTY, Okla. — Sequoyah County Sheriff's Department and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation are investigating a suspected double homicide.
Deputies responded to a business in Gans, near State Highway 64 and South 4670 Road. They found a man and woman dead inside with injuries that led them to suspect homicide.
They identified the suspect as Stacy Lee Drake and said he stole a car from the scene.
Drake was arrested by the Morrilton Police Department and Arkansas State Police on June 20.
He is currently being held in the Conway County Jail.
2 News' Erin Christy dug into Drake's records to get a better idea of who he is and his history.
Tia Barnett confirmed her sister Tara Barnett-Underwood was one of the victims. She was working at LaFerry Propane Tuesday evening.
Tia said losing her sister and her killer on the run with no leads is like a living nightmare.
"He’s still on the run, I feel like I’m in a scary movie right now," she said. "I just feel sad and scared and a little desperate, hoping that we get justice for this and for my sister. She deserves it, her children deserve it.”
2 News also spoke to Barnett-Underwood's father Randy Barnett. He said it was a call he never anticipated receiving.
"Thought I had everything in this life planned out," said Randy. "I thought I had everything, from the education my kids were gonna have, to the way they were gonna dress, to the church we went to. I thought I had everything figured out. What I didn’t ever have figured out was a plan to bury them before I was gone.”
Because the homicides happened in Oklahoma and the stolen car was found in Arkansas, this search is a multi-agency effort in multiple states.
"It is a large-scale search. All of the surrounding states in this area, in this corner, are all aware and are all on the lookout if someone were to see this person,” said Hunter McKee with OSBI.
Another complication to their search is not knowing if Drake took off on foot or in another vehicle.
Still, Barnett-Underwood's father said it's a pain like nothing he's ever known before.
"It’s hard to hold people around me that love me, tell me that they know what I’m going through or the pain that I’m feeling," said Randy. "No those people don’t know, but the other victims of this person do. They know.”
Morrilton police posted on their Facebook page someone saw the stolen car parked at a motel. They included surveillance photos.
There is also a warrant for him in Alabama for a murder case.
2 News learned Drake is the suspect in the death of Russell Andrews in Tuscaloosa on May 14. The Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Office said Drake lived as a transient and gave a false name. He also stole the victim's car in this case. That car is still missing.
They searched the motel but did not find him.
2 News is in contact with Sequoyah County Sheriff's Office and will update as we learn more.
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