Homicide suspect and girlfriend found dead after high-speed chase, Arizona police say

A homicide suspect in Nevada and Arizona was found dead with his girlfriend in the desert after leading police on a high-speed chase, according to law enforcement.

The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office had asked for the public’s help in finding Hunter Allen McGuire, 26, after a woman was killed overnight Tuesday, Oct. 18 in Golden Valley, northwest of Kingman, according to a Oct. 20 news release posted on the sheriff’s office Facebook page.

He was also wanted in the Oct. 17 fatal shooting of a woman he was staying with in Las Vegas, according to a news release from Las Vegas police.

Law enforcement considered McGuire “armed and dangerous” and was last seen driving a silver Hyundai Elantra with an Arizona license plate, the release said.

On Oct. 22, after being spotted at a truck stop, near Yucca, Arizona, McGuire led law enforcement on a brief high-speed chase along Interstate 40, according to KVVU, citing The Associated Press. After his Hyundai crashed he and girlfriend, 32-year-old Samantha Branek, along with another woman, fled on foot into the desert, according to the news release.

McGuire was seen running in the desert with a rifle, according to KTNV.

McGuire and his girlfriend were found dead with gunshot wounds to their head, according to the sheriff’s office. Detectives believe McGuire’s fatal injury was self-inflicted.

The other woman that fled with the couple was later arrested in the desert and “charged with hindering prosecution,” according to the Daily Beast.

The investigation is ongoing.

This story was originally published October 24, 2022 at 1:12 PM with the headline "Homicide suspect and girlfriend found dead after high-speed chase, Arizona police say."