Missing Arizona Family: Man, Stepdaughter Feared Dead, Person Of Interest Arrested In Iowa

KEY POINTS

David Batten, Elissa Landry, and Mitchell Mincks were reported missing on April 21 by Chino Valley Police, but were last seen on April 19
Police said evidence found at Batten's home showed signs of foul play and was enough to open a criminal investigation
The case was changed to a homicide investigation after new evidence and Mincks' arrest in Iowa for an unrelated warrant pointed to Batten and Landry being dead

Police in Arizona said Wednesday that a man and her stepdaughter who were reported missing for over a week are believed to be dead. A third person reported missing is considered a person of interest in the case after being arrested in Iowa on an unrelated warrant.

David Batten, 45, his stepdaughter Elissa Landry, 28, and Landry’s boyfriend Mitchell Allen Mincks, 24, were reported missing on April 21 and were last seen on April 19 at Batten’s home in Chino Valley, a city roughly 110 miles north of Phoenix.

24-year-old Mitchell "Mitch" Mincks, his girlfriend, 28-year-old Elissa Ellie" Landry, and her stepfather, 45-year-old David "Nick" Batten of Chino Valley, Arizona were last heard from on April 19th; they were reported missing on April 21st. When Chino Valley Police officers pic.twitter.com/DSiYdSSKAW
— Missing Persons Planet (@Home4theMissing) April 25, 2020

Police investigated Batten’s home after he failed to get in contact with anyone for two days, causing relatives to be concerned for him and Landry. Upon searching the home, police said there was evidence of foul play but did not disclose specifics. It was enough to open a criminal investigation and for Batten, Landry, and Mincks to be reported missing.

Authorities had suspected that the three may have been heading to Iowa in a blue 2013 Subaru Forester belonging to Landry.

Chino Valley police said a joint search was conducted over the weekend with Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office after evidence pointed to an area of interest north of Chino Valley. The air and ground search went for two days and uncovered Landry and Batten’s cellphones near State Route 89.

Mincks was located Monday in Raymond, Iowa, after police conducted a search of a local home where Mincks had been allegedly been hiding. He was detained for reportedly violating his supervised release from an unrelated weapons charge in March 2017. Mincks had served two years in prison and had been on supervised release. He had transferred to Arizona in October 2019.

“Chino Valley Police Department is updating this investigation from a missing person case to a homicide investigation,” the department said in a statement following Mincks arrest in Iowa.

Batten is 6-foot, 225 pounds, and has brown hair and brown eyes. Landry is 5-foot-10, 155 pounds, and has brown hair and brown eyes.