OKLAHOMA CITY – Authorities say a new lead in a horrific murder case has led them back to a home in northwest Oklahoma City.
On Oct. 13, 2011, officers were called to the Homeland store on N.W. 23rd St. after receiving numerous reports of a foul odor.
When they arrived, investigators found a black bag with a severed human head and other dismembered body parts inside.
Shortly after the discovery, authorities learned the body belonged to 19-year-old Carina Brianne Saunders.
Throughout the investigation, officials learned Saunders may have been tortured and killed at an abandoned house in southwest Oklahoma City before her body was dumped in Bethany.
A witness told investigators she “witnessed [Luis] Ruiz physically beat Carina Saunders and then tie her up. That he drug her to an upstairs room and tied her to a small table… that he then cut off her left foot and then tried to cut off her right foot when the saw broke.”
In July 2012, Luis Ruiz and Jimmy Massey were both officially charged with first-degree murder.
For eight months, Ruiz and Massey remained in police custody before the charges were dropped.
Ruiz and Massey were both released from jail when Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater dismissed the murder charges without prejudice.
Since then, no other arrests have ever been made in the case.
On Monday, agents with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation began digging in a yard near N.W. 10th St. and MacArthur Blvd. after receiving tips in relation to the Carina Saunders case.
“It’s really scary. And it’s very sad too, very sad,” said Alicia Silvia as she watched investigators work.
According to court documents, Oklahoma City police received an anonymous tip in 2013 that the clothing Saunders was wearing at the time of her murder was located at 504 Oakdale Dr.
The home was searched but nothing was found.
The former homeowner, Kenny Richards, was initially questioned in Saunders’ death and was accused of pimping her out shortly before her death.
“I had heard that the man living there knew what happened and he knew who did it but if he told, he would be killed and his family would be killed,”
a neighbor told NewsChannel 4.
Investigators spent several hours digging on the back side of the property but would not say if they found anything.
Authorities say they are using ground penetrating radar and excavation tools to try and find some evidence linked to the crime.
“And so because we’ve gotten other leads and tips that sent us here, we’re going to do everything we can to write this one off and hopefully we will find something,” said Jessica Brown, with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
Officials say they expect to be at the property for several days.
