The prime suspect in a missing person’s case died in prison and cannot be prosecuted now that authorities have confirmed the missing party’s remains have been positively identified. Human remains located and collected in a remote area near Topock in May 2019 were sent to the University of North Texas Center for human identification, according to the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO).
“On Nov. 3, 2020, a profile was created for the unidentified human remains, and on Dec. 15, 2020, the human remains were positively identified as the previously reported missing person, Nancy Hartz,” said MCSO spokeswoman Anita Mortensen. The Kingman woman was 71-years old when she was reported missing in July 2015 by family members who indicated she had last been seen with a man from the Lake Havasu City area.
Mortensen said detectives determined the man to be Robert Lawson Carnochan. The man who reportedly used several aliases was arrested in April 2016 for fraud, theft and forgery counts unrelated to Hartz’s disappearance.
Carnochan was convicted in separate cases and sentenced to the Arizona Department of Corrections and he was 73 years old when he died in custody on Sept. 17, 2021.
“Since Robert Lawson Carnochan died in prison, no arrest can be made in reference to his involvement in the murder of Nancy Hartz,” Mortensen said. She said Carnochan is the suspect in the cases of two other women who have been missing for years.
The Mohave County Medical Examiner’s office determined that Hartz died of multiple gunshot wounds in a homicide.
Dave Hawkins