'Dangerous' Boyfriend-Girlfriend Duo Wanted for Murder Arrested
The boyfriend-girlfriend duo was on the run since Sept. 28.
Oct. 5, 2011 — -- A boyfriend-girlfriend duo allegedly linked to a brutal murder and two disappearances was apprehended by a highway patrol officer Wednesday afternoon north of Sacramento, Calif., after a police officer recognized the car the couple was driving.
Earlier today, a manhunt for the couple had led cops to Willamette Valley, Ore., where they found the body of a young man.
The unidentified body was discovered near where the suspects, David Joseph Pedersen, 31, and Holly Grigsby, 24, were seen over the weekend.
When spotted, the suspects were believed to be driving a 1999 white Plymouth Breeze that belonged to a man named Cody Myers. Myers, 19, was last seen on the morning of Oct. 1 when he left his home in Lafayette, Ore.
"We can't say for certain at this time that it [the body] is Cody. However his family has been warned," said Don Thomson, public information officer for the Marion County Sheriff's Office. "It's clear the death was not accidental."
Pedersen and Grigsby have been on the run since Sept. 28, when Pedersen's stepmother, Leslie Pedersen, 69, was found stabbed to death in her Everett, Wash., mobile home.
Leslie Pedersen was found in bed, her hands bound with duct tape and her head wrapped in a pillow soaked with blood. A sword lay nearby.
"We have detrimental evidence that gives us probable cause to arrest David Joseph Pedersen and Holly Grigsby," said Sgt. Robert Goetz of the Everett Police Department.
He declined to elaborate, but added: "Mrs. Pedersen was killed in a very brutal way."
Police are still looking for Leslie Pedersen's husband, David Jones Pedersen, 56. They do not consider David Pedersen a suspect, but he has been missing since his wife's murder.
"It's extremely troubling to us. We haven't heard from anyone or had any clues to his whereabouts," said Goetz. "We consider him endangered at this point."
A 2010 Black Jeep Patriot was missing from Pedersen's home.
The pair was seen in Willamette Valley, Ore., several times this past weekend in Myers' Plymouth Breeze, police said.
Earlier this week, Grigsby attempted to use a stolen credit card in a Salem, Ore., convenience store, while surveillance footage captured the distinctive looking Pedersen, who has extensive tattoos, waiting in the car, according to authorities.