Wife of RTS Towing owner & 2 employees missing *presumed dead*

[tricia381]

The 58-year-old owner of a local tow truck company was arrested Wednesday after Merced County Sheriff's Department investigators said he made a false report about a stolen car.

Meanwhile, sheriff's investigators say they're also looking into reports that the suspect's wife is missing, possibly in Mexico.

Randal "Randy" Loy Wright, owner of RTS Towing, was taken into custody by detectives around 8 a.m. at his residence in the 2000 block of Yosemite Park Way, near Andregg Avenue, according to Tom MacKenzie, sheriff's spokesman.

Investigators believe Wright called the California Highway Patrol in February and reported his Ford Explorer Sport Trac had been stolen. The car was later found at a location in Butte County -- although investigators believe Wright already knew of the car's location.

Wright also signed a CHP form, stating that the car was stolen, MacKenzie said. Because Wright is accused of lying on that form, MacKenzie said he was arrested on suspicion of perjury.

He said the reason why Wright allegedly made the false report is still under investigation.

Sheriff's investigators learned of the false auto theft report while investigating a missing person case involving the suspect's wife, Karen Rene Wright, 50.

Karen Wright's family members said she disappeared after making a trip to San Felipe, Mexico, on Feb. 9. The couple had owned two houses in San Felipe, according to Marcia Stewart, her sister. "I've cried every night," said Stewart, about her sister's disappearance. "I want somebody to find Karen."


http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c383/TRICIA381/pervs%20and%20outlaws/karenwright.jpg
Looking for Karen Wright (http://www.sanfelipe.com.mx/news/karenwright8mar09.html)

Stewart said investigators in Mexico are also looking into her sister's disappearance.

No one has been arrested, or named as a suspect, in the case of Karen Wright's disappearance, MacKenzie said. "We're still keeping all of our options open and investigating all possible leads," MacKenzie said.

Randal Wright reported his wife missing to the Merced County Sheriff's Department on Feb. 12, the day before he allegedly made the false report about the stolen car.

According to court documents, Karen Wright filed for divorce in October, after being married to Randal Wright for 12 years. Cindy Morse, Randal Wright's attorney in the divorce case, said she was aware of Wright's arrest, but had no comment.

Karen Wright claimed in court documents that her husband had threatened her and physically abused her, saying that he told her that "he could kill her and nobody would know." She also said her husband broke her hand and "ripped out chunks" of her hair.

Randal Wright, however, also claimed in court documents that his wife was abusive toward him, saying that she was delusional, and made up accusations that he was trying to poison her.

Karen Wright isn't the first person connected to RTS Towing to disappear under mysterious circumstances. Two tow truck drivers who worked for the company, Steven Lincoln Lombard, 33, and Paul Armstrong, 28, vanished on Dec. 17, 1993.


http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c383/TRICIA381/pervs%20and%20outlaws/lombard_steven.jpg http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c383/TRICIA381/pervs%20and%20outlaws/armstrong_paul.jpg

The Charley Project (http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/a/armstrong_paul.html)

Armstrong was last seen at his West 25th Street home by his girlfriend as she left for work at 7:45 a.m. That same day, Lombard had made arrangements to meet his wife, Louise, to go Christmas shopping. He never made it to that appointment, according to family members

The next morning, Lombard's truck was found in a K-Mart parking lot. The truck's keys were inside, along with a cup of coffee in the console holder. The truck's windows were rolled down, and the door was unlocked.

No one has been named as a suspect in the men's disappearance, which is now considered a double homicide case.

Wright was booked into the John Latorraca Correctional Center on suspicion of perjury. He's being held in lieu of $1 million bail.

MacKenzie said Wright's bail is high because it was determined that he could be a flight risk.

merced sun star (http://www.mercedsunstar.com/168/story/747193.html)

[LocalCelebrity]

I remember reading about the 2 employees a while back. Just vanished without a trace...now his wife? Hmmmmm

[Abroad]

The undoing of criminals often comes when they repeat a succesful move once too often.

[Misskittychaos]

It sounds like he figured he got away with it TWICE before he'd try it again.

[LocalCelebrity]

The undoing of criminals often comes when they repeat a succesful move once too often.

So Ive noticed. Someone becomes a suspect in a case and then all of a sudden we hear about how 20 years earlier they were a suspect in another case, or someone they knew had vanished or died previously. WTF

[jenny7795]

His wife's disappearance has been ruled a homicide. His 6 year old step son drowned in 1982 and his body has been exhumed. The two missing employees are considered to be homicide victims.

Sept 9, 2009


The case of missing Merced woman Karen Wright has been ruled a homicide.

Investigators believe her husband knows what happened to her, officials said Tuesday.

Wright, 50, went missing in February in San Felipe, Mexico. Her husband, 59-year-old Randal Wright, hasn't been arrested in connection with her disappearance.

Sheriff's officials stopped short of calling him a suspect in his wife's murder, but said this week that he is considered their only "person of interest" in the matter.

Sheriff's spokesman Tom MacKenzie said investigators have gathered enough evidence in recent months that they're now confident Karen Wright was murdered. Authorities also believe her husband knows more about what happened to her than he has shared with detectives, MacKenzie said.

Two tow truck drivers who worked for Wright, Steven Lombard and Paul Armstrong, went missing in 1993. The men have never been found. They are considered by police to be homicide victims, though no one has been charged with their murders.

Since Karen Wright went missing, her husband has been charged with several crimes that detectives say they discovered while investigating her disappearance. He was arrested in March on suspicion of making a false stolen vehicle report. Perjury charges related to that arrest were later dropped.

In April he was charged with embezzlement and with stealing another car -- a Mercedes Benz -- from a dealership in Fresno. Authorities claim Wright had taken the Mercedes there for repairs, but had stopped making payments on it. Police believe he or someone he knew illegally drove it away from the dealership last December.

Wright pleaded not guilty to the embezzlement and theft charges earlier this year, but recently changed his pleas to no-contest to avoid a trial. He faces up to six months in jail.

He is out on bail now and has maintained that he is innocent of all the charges he's faced this year.

Also in April, Mexican state police arrested a woman in San Felipe believed by local sheriff's officials to be Randal Wright's girlfriend. The sheriff's department tried to bring the woman, Teresa Hutt, from Mexico to Merced to face charges of conspiring to steal the Mercedes. Police claim to have found the car at a vacant rental house that Hutt managed.

The sheriff's department wasn't able to extradite Hutt, however, partly because the charge against her isn't serious enough and partly because she is Canadian and not a U.S. citizen, MacKenzie said.




http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2009/09/09/1046133/case-of-missing-merced-woman-ruled.html

May 14, 2010


FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The Merced County Sheriff's Office is taking a new look at the death of a six year old Merced boy who drowned in 1982. His body was exhumed Thursday, and now we're learning why.

The young boy is Aaron Wright. He's the step-son of Randal Wright, who has been named the only person of interest in his wife's disappearance. Randal also has ties to two other homicides. And now authorities are looking into whether his step-son's death was really accidental.

Sheriff Pazin said, "Randy was babysitting at the time during the July 1982 drowning." The Sheriff also says he doesn't know if exhuming the six year olds body will lead to any new evidence. But he feels now is the time to find out.

Action News spoke to Randal Wright on the phone, and he says he is mad and disgusted that the sheriff's office would disrespect his step-son by exhuming his body.

Wright says the information that's been released about him is filled with lies, and he is not guilty of any crimes. Wright is supposed to report to jail on June 11th to serve a six month sentence for auto theft. But he's trying to get an electronic ankle monitoring system instead.

http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/local&id=7442998