It will be one-year Oct. 18, that the family of Susan and Jerry McFalls, the missing couple from Littlefield, AZ, were notified that the remains of Susan McFalls along with another set of remains had been found about a mile off I-15 at the Black Rock Rd. exit.
The couple were reported missing on Jan. 21, 2018 from their home in Desert Springs, AZ; ten days after they were supposed to return to their West Jordan, UT home. Family members were expecting them the evening of Jan. 11, but the couple never showed.
According to the family’s own timeline of events, it was a full 10 days after the family didn’t show up in South Jordan that the McFalls son, Jerry McFalls Jr. traveled to Desert Springs to check on them. McFalls timeline entry from Jan. 21 reads: “Jerry McFalls Jr. travels to Littlefield, AZ to check on his parents. Upon arriving at the house, he finds, “the sheds were open, the door was open, my mom’s purse, wallet, cell phones, computers, everything (were) sitting on the kitchen table.” Local police conduct a wellness check on the McFalls prompted by the family, finding the property abandoned.”
On Jan. 26, 2018, the Mohave County Sheriff’s Department executed a search warrant on property near the McFalls residence in Desert Springs, the results of that search didn’t reveal anything in determining what happened to the missing couple.
Residents of the Arizona Strip began searching the surrounding areas on Feb. 1, 2018 and the search efforts continued, most times without family members present, until the remains of Susan McFalls were found on Oct. 15 and family members notified of positive identification on Oct. 18, 2018.
According to a press release by the Mohave County Sheriff’s office at the time: The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office is currently investigating a case of two sets of human remains found in the desert near the Virgin River Gorge in the Arizona Strip area. On Monday, Oct. 15, dispatch received a call of human remains found and Mohave County Sheriff’s Office Detectives responded to the area. With the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Evidence Response Team, a thorough investigation of the area has been conducted over the last four days. All evidence located has been sent to the FBI Crime Lab for scientific examination to determine the identities of the remains. This investigation is ongoing.”
According to family member Meridee McFalls and the Mohave County Sheriff’s office, “One set of the human remains have been identified as belonging to Susan Marie McFalls, 63 of Littlefield, Arizona. Medical examiners were able to make a positive identification by comparing medical records and a medical device located along with the remains. The second body has not yet been identified and both sets of remains have been forwarded for scientific examination.”
The remains have been sent to two different laboratories. Most of the remains were forwarded to the F.B.I.’s crime lab for forensic investigation, DNA samples of the second set of remains were sent to the University of Northern Texas for identification purposes. To date the second set of human remains still haven’t been identified but family members believe that they are those of Jerry McFalls Senior. The University’s backlog has over 3,600 cases that will be processed before they are able to get to the remains found on the strip and the family and public are still waiting a year later.
Community members are asking questions: “Why did the family wait ten days to check on their elderly parents who had health issues?” “Why wasn’t the welfare check conducted before Jerry McFalls Jr. discovered the abandoned home himself?”
Two quarters were left on the gravesite and according to local sources they were left by family members Meridee and Jerry. Some community members are retired military and know the meaning of coins left on a grave: Leaving a penny means you visited and want to thank the veteran for their service. A nickel means you trained at boot camp with the deceased, while a dime suggests you served with him or her. Finally, a quarter signifies you were with the soldier when they passed away.” This begs another question from community members: “Were family members present when the McFalls were murdered?
Community members believe that the McFalls were lured to the spot where the remains were found and arrived there alive and well but were murdered within minutes after they arrived. They believe that no local resident would have been foolish enough to “Choose such a busy spot” to murder the McFalls. The site where the remains were found is a frequently used camping area, less than a mile off the highway with a working mine not far away.
When the MLN visited the gravesite, there were over a dozen campers in the area along with several trucks traveling the dirt road to and from the mine. When public opinion was discussed during a phone interview with the MLN, Meridee McFalls said, “I think it was a perfect spot to bury the bodies, look how long it took them to find mom and dad.”
Family members are claiming that it is getting harder and harder to maintain the McFalls property, having to pay taxes on it themselves until the case is solved because they haven’t been able to obtain death certificates on either Susan or Jerry even though Susan’s remains were positively identified and they are footing the bill for everything themselves. However, many community members involved in the search efforts remember that the McFalls children received approximately $104,000 in cash along with other personal property left at the home when the police released the property to them.
Several neighbors, including two young children, remember seeing and talking to the McFalls family members while they were driving in a Silver/Gray SUV. The McFalls children claim that a Silver/Gray SUV never existed, raising even more questions from the community.
During the interview several questions were asked but the dialogue seemed to follow very closely with the dialogue used in several other interviews including an episode of the Justice Files, some answers were the same as the answers given on that episode verbatim.
According to Mohave County Sheriff’s Media Spokesperson Anita Mortensen, the second set of remains have yet to be identified. The investigation is now an ongoing murder investigation. “Findings of the investigation are not being released at this point because it is an ongoing investigation; nobody has been ruled out as a suspect.”
The Mohave County Sheriff’s office is still asking the public to come forward with any additional information they may have in the murder of Jerry and Susan McFalls.
Information can be reported by calling the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office at 928-753-0753 or toll free at 800-753-0753.
Here is a link to a video posted by Meridee McFalls on the anniversary of the discovery of the remains: https://www.facebook.com/McFallsMystery/videos/2766521176701073/
