Police: Husband arrested in Elvis fan’s death
The man from Ohio whose wife disappeared around the time of their trip to Graceland has been charged in her death.
It was still unclear Friday exactly where, when and how 70-year-old Roberta “Bobbie” Snider died.
But the sheriff ’s office in Stark County, Ohio, confirmed her husband Philip Snider has been booked into jail on one count of aggravated murder, with bond set at $5 million.
It was the latest twist in a case that came to public view in January.
The Sniders come from Hartville, Ohio, which is in the northeastern part of the state near Akron.
“Mrs. Snider was a big Elvis fan and she wanted to see Graceland before she died, so her husband was trying to fulfill her wishes,” Benton County, Tennessee, Sheriff Kenny Christopher said in January.
Christopher said the husband told authorities many different stories about what had happened to his wife of more than 50 years.
Early on, Philip Snider reportedly said his wife had medical problems and had died of natural causes near Graceland, and an ambulance had whisked her body away, the Akron Beacon Journal said.
Snider eventually told authorities that he had dumped his wife’s body into the Tennessee River, Christopher said.
The sheriff said he and investigators confirmed that Philip Snider stayed at a Days Inn in Memphis and at a Days Inn in Benton County, which is roughly 145 miles northeast of Memphis.
The filing of the charges in Stark County suggests police believe Roberta Snider died there, not in Tennessee, the Akron Beacon Journal reported. Her body has not been found. The Akron newspaper quoted Hartville Police Chief Larry Dordea as saying police had acquired a large amount of evidence that took time to test and analyze.
“After meeting with Stark County prosecutors about what they found, Dordea said they felt confident Friday arresting (Philip Snider) for murder, even without a body,” the newspaper reported.
Reach reporter Daniel Connolly at 529-5296, daniel.connolly@commercialappeal.com, or on Twitter at @danielconnolly.