Police have arrested and charged a man in connection with a Washington couple who have been missing since Monday.
An unnamed man in his 40s from Olympia, Wash., was located and arrested Friday night, according to a news release shared by the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.
“Working with our local, state and federal partners, we gathered evidence to identify a suspect in their disappearance,” the office wrote.
The suspect will be booked into the Thurston County Jail on one count of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree kidnapping.
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Police now believe the missing persons – Karen Koep and her husband, identified only as Davido – are dead, the statement said.
“During the investigation, we have been in contact with the family of the missing couple and unfortunately we do not believe the couple survived the attack at their residence,” the office wrote.
Police also said in a statement that detectives were “working tirelessly” to investigate the couple’s disappearance and that “additional information will be released as it becomes available.”
Koep, a beloved chiropractor, and Davido were first reported missing — under circumstances police described as “suspicious” — last Monday, according to a press release from the sheriff’s office.
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After Koep failed to show up for work, police conducted a welfare check on the couple’s residence and found both missing, along with their car, a 2015 Toyota Yaris, according to a release from the sheriff’s office.
Shortly after, authorities located the vehicle at an intersection about five miles from Koep’s workplace, according to listings on Google and ZocDoc.
Last week, Joe Blade, who owns a real estate company in the same location as Koep’s practice, told PEOPLE he last saw the chiropractor around Wednesday, a week before she was reported missing.
The next day, her office answering machine directed callers to another clinic because it was closed “due to an emergency.”
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Last week, Koep’s sister, Pauline D. Dutton, told PEOPLE that her family is in “complete shock” and has no idea what could have happened. The couple was scheduled to visit her in Oregon during Thanksgiving week.
She also said that the chiropractor is “the strongest woman you will ever meet in your life.”
“She’s probably selfless to a fault,” she told PEOPLE. “Sometimes he doesn’t have time to take care of himself because he always gives to others.”
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Dutton also spoke to NBC News following her sister’s disappearance, telling the outlet that she doesn’t think Koep or Davido would leave their home without telling anyone.
“I know they didn’t leave their house by themselves, let’s put it that way,” Dutton said.
“They didn’t just leave there. They’re not in Bora Bora on vacation,” she added. “They disappeared and I don’t think they left voluntarily.”
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Source: HIS Education