The Baton Rouge Police Department announced an arrest has been made in the investigation into the abduction and murder of a Baton Rouge couple.
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Officers found the house in “disarray” and a home safe was open, authorities said.
The bodies of Denis and Suzanne Duplantier, both in their 70s, were found Monday night at a truck stop in Hammond, strangled in the backseat of their pickup truck.
Officials say the initial autopsy reveals the Duplantiers were strangled, however officials with the Hammond Police Department say they don’t know where the crime took place.
The suspect has been identified as Ernesto Alonso, 42, of Baton Rouge.
Dabadie says Alonso will be extradited to Baton Rouge, where he’ll be booked with first-degree murder and second-degree kidnapping. The truck in which the victims were found is believed to have been parked at the truck stop sometime Sunday afternoon.
They said there were no signs of struggle. Investigators said he was caught in Miami early Wednesday morning.
According to the arrest warrant, “Alonso seized and bound the victims at their residence where he beat them until he obtained entry into their safe” and stole a large amount of money inside it.
Authorities are seeking information about a white truck with Louisiana license plate C287533 seen on surveillance video leaving the site.
Moore said if Alonso fights extradition, it could take as long as three months for him to be returned to Louisiana.
The discovery was spurred after relatives hadn’t heard from Denis or Suzanne Duplantier for a few time and asked police to check on them.
OnStar tracked the family’s missing pickup to the Petro truck stop at 2100 SW Railroad Ave., said, a Cpl.
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“This is the flawless example of what all agencies working together for one common cause can accomplish”, East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff Sid Gautreaux said.
