A Seattle man, 59-year-old Walter Mitchell, has been arrested after Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office investigators connected him to body parts found abandoned in multiple locations.
Mitchell was found in Scottsdale on Tuesday.
On December 26, 2020, the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office (YCSO) received a report to that 2 human limbs were found in the area off Contreras Road. A search of the area that afternoon resulted in the recovery of 19 limbs including detached arms and legs. The following day, December 27, 2020, detectives and searchers found 5 additional limbs. Also, on December 27, 2020, YCSO received a phone call from a hunter in the Camp Wood area who reported finding 2 severed human heads. Deputies arrived and confirmed what he had seen, and a follow-up search revealed 3 more human heads.
Investigators found evidence near the body parts that were associated with the remains at both sites, including ‘puppy pad’ material, it was determined the body parts at each site were likely related and connected to the same suspect.
Using that evidence, detectives discovered the remains were likely connected to a business based in Seattle, Washington, identified as ‘Future GenX.’
Mitchell owned the business which involved the management of cadavers for research and had recently closed. Working with local police in the Seattle area, detectives obtained information that Mitchell left Seattle in 2020 with human remains belonging to 5 individuals.
Detectives traced Mitchell’s travels to the Prescott/Chino Valley communities and then to Scottsdale.
Mitchell’s motivation for his actions are unknown currently, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Mitchell was booked on 28 counts under ARS 13-2926, which makes it unlawful for a person to knowingly move a dead human body or parts of a human body with the intent to abandon or conceal the dead human body or parts.
According to YSCO, “detectives sought out licensed facilities in Arizona who manage cadavers for medical research, and all have been extremely cooperative. They want the public to know that this case in no way represents the work they do to care for loved ones who have donated their bodies to important education and research.”
“This situation is unimaginable, and I am so sorry for the families whose loved ones were donated to research and treated in such a horrific fashion,” said Sheriff Mascher. “I want to thank the community for their patience as we investigated this case and am very proud of our detectives, staff, and volunteers, for the work they did to identify and arrest the suspect so quickly. At the onset, it was important to determine that this case did not involve a serial killer and is why, working with Sheriff Elect Rhodes, I directed all available resources to the case.”