An arrest has been made nearly three years after an Oregon car dealer went missing, police say.
Murphy Calvin Henry II, 54, was arrested on multiple charges in connection with the death of Ryan Staggs, including second-degree murder, second-degree abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence, the Newport Police Department said in a Jan. 13 news release.
Staggs was reported missing in February 2022 after he was last seen at his home the month before, police said.
At the time, Stags, 30, was the owner of Happy Motors, a used car dealership, according to Staggs’ listing on the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.
Months before he disappeared, “Staggs had been shot in the face while sleeping in his house by an unknown assailant,” NamUs said.
He was treated at a hospital and released, according to the listing.
It’s not clear if the shooting was related to his disappearance, NamUs said
Since May 2022, investigators with the Lincoln County District Attorney Cold Case Unit have continued to follow up on leads in Staggs’ disappearance, police said.
Despite investigation, police said they were not able to find Staggs.
While serving a search warrant at a home about 3 miles south of Staggs’ home on Dec. 27, cadaver dogs “alerted to the scent of human remains in the ground soil removed from the backyard,” police said.
Police said they searched the area but found no human remains.
The search warrant, however, did lead detectives to “additional information and witnesses” that furthered their investigation, police said.
“Investigation led investigators to a shallow grave site in remote Lincoln County” on Jan. 8, police said.
There, investigators found human remains that are believed to be Staggs, police said. The Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office will confirm the identity of the remains.
Staggs’ case is still under investigation, police said, and anyone with information is asked to contact them at 541-270-1856 or tipline@newportpolice.net.
Newport is about a 95-mile drive northwest from Eugene.
