Arizona authorities confirm body is that of missing mother

By Jackie Valley

Published Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2010 | 9:25 a.m.

Updated Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2010 | 12:01 p.m.

Arizona authorities have confirmed that a woman's body discovered in a remote area in Yavapai County last month is that of Suellen Roberts, the missing mother of a Las Vegas girl found dead in Louisiana.

Yavapai County Sheriff's Office spokesman Dwight D'Evelyn said medical examinations confirmed the remains found in mid-November off Interstate 40 in northwestern Arizona are those of the 31-year-old mother who went missing after Labor Day weekend.

The medical examiner classified Suellen Roberts' cause of death as "undetermined homicidal violence," but noted her remains had evidence of a gunshot wound to the head.

Thomas Steven Sanders, 53, was arrested in Gulfport, Miss., in November in the kidnapping of Roberts' daughter, 12-year-old Lexis Roberts. The girl's skeleton was found by hunters in October in Louisiana.

Sanders pleaded not guilty to kidnapping Lexis Roberts last month. He has not been charged in her death yet, said Robert E. King, supervisory senior resident agent with the FBI in Alexandria, La.

"They're just taking their time to make sure everything is done correctly" because Sanders remains in custody in Louisiana, King said Tuesday morning.

King said Louisiana officials have kept in contact with authorities in Arizona as they provide each other with assistance related to the case.

Officials from the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office said detectives are continuing to investigate Suellen Roberts' death in connection with Sanders.

Authorities say the trio had been spotted in northern Arizona over Labor Day weekend, which included a stay in a Flagstaff motel and a trip to the Grand Canyon.

Sanders had been declared legally dead 16 years ago, but investigators now know he lived in Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Georgia and Nevada during that time. He worked as a laborer, a welder and a scrap metal collector.