Russell Thomas Vinton, 66, was found dead on October 6, 2024, near the Hidden Valley Road off-ramp of Interstate 15, south of Moapa, Nevada. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department responded around 7:30 a.m. and found Vinton with signs of trauma and multiple gunshot wounds. He was a Prescott, Arizona, resident who had been reported missing on October 8 after failing to appear for jury duty.

Vinton was last seen on October 5 at a campsite in the Jacob Lake area southwest of Page, Arizona. Deputies from the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office found the campsite abandoned and noted his truck and a white 2017 Man Cave travel trailer were missing; suspicious items at the site prompted concern. On October 9 police in Lake Havasu City located Vinton’s gray 2017 GMC Sierra near Craggy Wash. The vehicle’s occupant, identified as 61-year-old Patrick Neal Champion of Tennessee, opened fire on detectives; they returned fire, fatally wounding Champion after he also rammed the truck into a police vehicle.

The Coconino County Sheriff’s Office is leading the homicide probe with assistance from Las Vegas Metro. The travel trailer, Arizona plate 5LA50N, remains missing and investigators are working to determine the connection between Champion and Vinton. Did anyone see Vinton or his travel trailer in northern Arizona in early October?