Police arrest man wanted in connection with multiple murders in Oklahoma

MORRILTON, Ark. (NewsNation) — The search for an Alabama man wanted in connection with several murders in Oklahoma has been ended after he was tracked down and arrested in Arkansas by the Morrilton Police Department and Arkansas State Police, according to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

Stacy Drake, 50, of Birmingham, had been on the run since late Tuesday evening.

Police said he was last seen on surveillance footage at a hotel in Morrilton, Arkansas, about 50 miles northwest of Little Rock. Morrilton police also said Arkansas State Police informed them that the vehicle used in the murders was parked on the hotel’s property.

Officials said officers searched the hotel but Drake was not found. Police said it was unknown how he left the hotel.

On Thursday, around 10 a.m. local time, police discovered Drake hiding in a wooded area in Morrilton.

The 50-year-old is currently being held at the Conway County Detention Center and further information will be released as soon as it becomes available, police said.

Drake is a person of interest in connection with two car thefts in Oklahoma.

One of those cases occurred Tuesday, when authorities in Sequoyah County, Oklahoma, were called to a double homicide in Gans, about 100 miles southeast of Tulsa. A man and woman were found dead inside a store “with injuries consistent with homicide,” according to NewsNation affiliate KFOR.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation named Drake as a person of interest in the case, but did not provide a reason.

According to Nexstar’s KARK, investigators in Oklahoma say Drake was also wanted in connection with the June 14 killing of 56-year-old Phillip Emerson in the city of El Reno.

According to Arkansas State Police, Drake is also wanted on several warrants from multiple jurisdictions, including aggravated robbery, auto theft and robbery.

NewsNation affiliate KARK contributed to this report.