Bodies found and man taken into custody in case of missing Phoenix-area couple who vanished over a week ago

• Bodies believed to be Tina and Michael Careccia were found buried near their Maricopa, Arizona, home Wednesday night 
• Careccias' vanished vanished Monday, June 22 after leaving for work in the morning but never making it in
• A person of interest was taken in for questioning and later placed in police custody  
• Couple's 2008 Honda Accord was found abandoned Monday night a half a mile from their home 

By Dailymail.com Reporter

Published: 06:26 EST, 2 July 2015 | Updated: 07:11 EST, 2 July 2015

A ‘person of interest’ was taken in for questioning and later placed in custody after human remains believed to be those of a Phoenix-area couple missing for more than a week were unearthed Wednesday night.

Pinal County sheriff's officials didn't immediately release any information about the man in connection to the case. 

Hours earlier, sheriff's officials served a search warrant at a home blocks from the Maricopa residence of the missing couple and deputies were seen digging on the property.

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Foul play: Sheriff's officials have recovered bodies believed to be Tina and Michael Careccia, of Maricopa, Arizona, who haven't been seen since June 22 

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Break in the case: Police are seen executing a search warrant Wednesday at a home in Maricopa, not far from the Careccias' house 

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A dig on the property has yielded tow bodies, which are believed to be the missing couples 

‘Due to the nature of the investigation and the critical juncture we find ourselves at, we are not able to share more details at time,’ Sheriff Paul Babeu said in a statement.

In the early hours of Thursday morning, Sheriff Babeu confirmed that bodies thought to be Mike and Tina Careccia have been recovered.

Police brought in a backhoe late Wednesday night to dig near on a property in the area of Papago and Brewer roads, located near the house of the Careccias. 

The owner of the property was later named a person of interest and detained for questioning.  

Babeu had said Tuesday that investigators have evidence that suggests foul play in the case but he couldn't release any details because of the ongoing nature of the investigation. 

'We knew there was foul play from the get-go,' Mike Careccia's brother-in-law Geoff Dugan said.  

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Tina Careccia is an accountant. Her husband, Mike, is a pilot. They were last seen heading off to work on the morning of June 22 

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Reward: Now the family is offering a $3,000 reward to information that might help them find Michael and Tina as Silent Witness, a non-profit that gives citizens the opportunity to assist law enforcement in solving crimes, is offering $1,000 for anonymous tips

 

Friends lead desperate search for missing couple

 

 

Sheriff's spokesman Mark Clark says they haven't been seen since they left their home in their car about 5am on June 22.

The man's teenage son called 911 about 7:15 that night to report his father and stepmother were missing.

The couple's abandoned 2008 Honda Accord was found Monday about a half-mile away from their home, covered in dirt.

Tina Careccia is an accountant at a Chandler construction company and her husband is a pilot, according to authorities.

Investigators said there has been no activity associated with the couple's phones, bank accounts, credit cards or social media accounts since they went missing.

Since then, rescue teams have been going door to door and using search dogs to try and track their scent. Authorities have also done air searches. Volunteers, including a paraglider, also set out over the weekend as the search neared a full week with no success.   

Meanwhile, tips across the state have led to dead ends.

'We have a lot of theories, there's certainly a lot of possibilities,' Clark told 12News.com. 'We're just going to follow the tips and the leads that come in and we're going to see. Eventually, we're going to figure out exactly what happened to this couple. Whether they're missing on their own or at the hands of someone else, we just don't know.'

The couple were high school sweethearts but went on to start families with other people after graduating.

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The couple were high school sweethearts but went on to start families with other people after graduating. When they reunited, they merged their families, complete with five kids, under one roof

They eventually reunited and merged their families--Tina with her 22-year-old daughter and two slightly younger sons and Michael with his two nearly adult sons--into one, with a goal of building a 'family compound' on the property where the close-knit family all lived together, reports AZcentral.com. 

Michael's brother-in-law, Geoff Dugan, has been staying at the couple's home, where he's holding out hope this nightmare will soon be over.

'We've probably slept maybe four or five hours since Sunday night just running over different scenarios of what could have happened,' he said.

Now the family is offering a $3,000 reward to information that might help them find Michael and Tina as Silent Witness, a non-profit that gives citizens the opportunity to assist law enforcement in solving crimes, is offering $1,000 for anonymous tips.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3147104/Bodies-man-taken-custody-case-missing-Phoenix-area-couple-vanished-week-ago.html#ixzz3ejlTNbxq
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