Suspect in teen death nabbed at Kennewick motel. 3 others not talking

A 32-year-old Eltopia man believed to be involved in this weekend’s death of a teen was arrested Monday morning at a Kennewick motel.

Pedro Bucio is the primary suspect in the Eltopia homicide, though Franklin County Sheriff Jim Raymond tells the Tri-City Herald that details remain sketchy on just what happened.

A 19-year-old man was found dead Saturday afternoon inside a storage room attached to a Tuck Road home just outside Eltopia.

It was called in by residents of the home who discovered the body, the sheriff’s office said in an earlier news release.

“Details at this time are fragmented and will require more time to develop the information out in order to get a good understanding of what has occurred,” Raymond said Monday.

Four people in all have been arrested, including a woman who was a suspect in a 2018 murder in Pasco.

Bucio was picked up by U.S. Marshals and Kennewick police at about 11:30 a.m. at the Econo Lodge in Kennewick, said Raymond.

He was seen leaving a motel room, and was taken into custody without incident.

Bucio lives in the 200 block of Tuck Road. It has not been disclosed if he lived in the same home where the teen’s body was found.

The other three arrested Sunday on unrelated charges are not cooperating with detectives, Raymond told the Herald.

They are: Guadalupe A. Sanchez, 29; Reece J. Baird, 21; and Katherine Covarrubias, 26.

Covarrubias lives at the same address as Bucio, and Sanchez and Baird both live on Hunters Pond Road in Eltopia.

Officials have not yet released the name of the teen. Raymond said there are delays in contacting his family.

Autopsy planned Tuesday

Investigators suspect the teen was shot but won’t be able to determine his exact cause of death until an autopsy is done.

The autopsy is planned Tuesday in Western Washington because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Washington State Patrol crime response team helped collect evidence at the home over the weekend.

Covarrubias was arrested Sunday afternoon for out-of-state warrants related to drugs.

Detectives went to talk with Baird at his home Sunday night. That’s when he allegedly was found with a gun, and was arrested on suspicion of unlawful gun possession.

And Sanchez was arrested along with Baird. She had several outstanding warrants from Benton and Franklin counties.

Sanchez previously was charged with second-degree murder for the May 2018 killing of Michelle Hudnall, a West Richland mother.

Sanchez eventually pleaded guilty in Franklin County Superior Court to first-degree rendering criminal assistance. She admitted helping move Hudnall’s body to an embankment in north Pasco, where it was rolled into the Columbia River.

She was sentenced to one year and three months in prison, and was released from jail last May after doing the time while awaiting trial.

This story was originally published April 6, 2020 at 1:53 PM.