Crittenden Co. authorities recover body of murder suspect who jumped into lake and never resurfaced
CRITTENDEN COUNTY, Ark. (WMC) - The Crittenden County Sheriff’s Department is investigating after a woman was found dead at a residence.
Wednesday, deputies responded to an alarm at the historical Snowden House at Horseshoe Lake.
Two deputies found an open back door upon arrival. When they began clearing the house, they discovered a male suspect who jumped from an upstairs window.
The suspect ran to a vehicle which he drove across the yard and got stuck in the yard at the Snowden house.
He then jumped from the car and ran and jumped into the lake.
Deputies say he went under the water and never came back up.
The Arkansas Game and Fish and Crittenden County Search and rescue were called.
Game and Fish used their sonar equipment and search and rescue was able to locate and recover the body of the suspect.
Upon further search of the house a female body was found inside the house. The woman has been identified as Martha McKay, who lived at the Snowden House.
The body of the victim and alleged suspect will be sent to the state medical examiners office for cause and manner of death.
Authorities identified the suspect as 39-year-old Travis Lewis.
He was paroled in 2018 after spending 23 years for the 1995 murder of two victims on the Snowden property. Lewis was 16 in 1995 and was charged as an adult. One of the 1995 victims was the mother of Martha McKay.
This is an ongoing investigation.
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