Dwight Franken, a 54-year-old White man, was found dead in the early morning of June 8, 2016, on the south end of the Heritage Trail pedestrian bridge near Casino Drive and State Route 163 in Laughlin, Nevada. A passerby discovered him about 2:20 a.m.; Las Vegas Metropolitan Police homicide detectives reported obvious signs of trauma and evidence of a recent physical altercation, and counted the death among Metro’s 2016 homicide investigations. Authorities said Franken was likely experiencing homelessness at the time.

Detectives quickly focused on a suspect, 49-year-old Walter William Klatt of Needles, California. Klatt was taken into custody in nearby Bullhead City, Arizona, on an unrelated misdemeanor littering charge in the hours after Franken’s body was found and then held on a Nevada fugitive warrant alleging murder with a deadly weapon. Klatt waived extradition on June 13, 2016, and was ordered held without bond while arrangements were made to transfer him to Clark County. Initial reports noted the apparent struggle on the bridge and said the autopsy’s finding would be released later.

If anyone was in the Laughlin area the night of June 7–8, 2016 and saw anything on the Heritage Trail bridge, please share what is known with Metro Homicide.