Sheriff's Office renews calls for leads in 2015 double homicide near Tonopah
The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office renewed calls for help investigating a suspected double homicide from 2015 in a case that has since grown cold.
The agency posted a video on YouTube on Nov. 7 in which Detective Michael Stevens with the Sheriff's Office said a man was driving on Salome Highway near 411th Avenue on Aug. 18, 2015, at around 5:45 a.m. when he noticed the body of a girl lying along the side of the road who appeared to be dead and called law enforcement.
Stevens said responding deputies investigated the area and found a man's body roughly 120 yards away from the girl. The two were later identified as 17-year-old Sophia Gibbs and 18-year-old Jesse Romero.
A medical examiner ruled both deaths homicide, with Romero dying from a gunshot wound to the chest and Gibbs suffering multiple gunshot wounds.
Stevens addressed family and friends of the two people, saying the investigation remained active despite being over 9 years old and that detectives were "burning the candle at both ends" in coming up with a breakthrough. He noted that a reward of up to $2,000 was available for any information that produced viable leads.
Tipsters can contact the Sheriff's Office's tip line at 602-876-8477 or report anonymously through Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS or 480-TESTIGO for Spanish.
