NEWMAN (CBS13) – Authorities arrested two people in Stanislaus County in connection to the murder of a California man in an Oregon hotel, the Grants Pass Department of Public Safety announced.
Just after 11 a.m. on January 5, the victim, 42-year-old Ryan Antone Dutra, of California, was found unconscious with a single gunshot wound on the floor of a hotel room he had rented at a Red Lion Inn in Josephine County, Oregon, law enforcement said. He had been discovered by a hotel employee. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Derek and Tera Smith
Through video surveillance, cell phone technology and license plate readers, authorities said they identified the suspects in Dutra’s killing as 41-year-old Derek Ian Smith and his wife, 34-year-old Tera Lindsey Smith. Law enforcement said it was likely the two were already back in California at the point they had been identified.
The California Highway Patrol Sacramento Police Department, San Luis Obispo Sheriff’s Office and Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office all assisted in the investigation.
At around 10:30 a.m. on January 6, the Smiths were located driving on Interstate 5 in the Stanislaus County city of Newman and taken into custody without incident, authorities said.
Both face charges of murder, robbery and the unlawful use of a firearm.
More from CBS Sacramento: