RAY BROOK, N.Y. (WCAX) – The nearly two-week manhunt for a New York murder suspect has ended after authorities on Friday morning arrested Anthony Bechand near Paul Smith’s College.
Bechand, 53, was wanted for the murder of Amanda Rodriguez, 41, who was found stabbed to death inside a home on Earl Lynn Court in Cohoes on September 14.
Police say Bechand, Rodriguez’s boyfriend, ditched his truck in Brighton, just north of Saranac Lake. Authorities, including the U.S. Marshals Service, focused their search on that area, using helicopters and search dogs.
The New York State Police received tips Friday morning about a suspicious individual walking on Route 86 around 7:30 a.m. near Paul Smith’s College. Franklin County Sheriff deputies and troopers found Bechand and arrested him.
The 12-day manhunt for Bechand turned Brighton and the quiet hamlet of Gabriels on its head, with some similarities to the search a decade ago for two inmates who escaped from the Dannemora prison.
Police had urged residents to check their trail cameras for signs of Bechand and warned that he was armed and dangerous.
Police say Bechand was taken to the Ray Brook Barracks for questioning.
