Recent deaths leave lots of unanswered questions
Over the past several months, two Pocatello deaths have left people with questions that just don’t seem to have any answers.
In March, two California teens murdered 87-year-old Arlyne Koehler in her McKinley Avenue home. Local law enforcement is still unsure what the two were doing in the area and why they killed Koehler.
“I have no idea, have no idea,” Lt. Eric Anderson of the Pocatello Police Department said.
“As far as I am understanding, it was just total random, totally random. There is no rhyme or reason why they picked that residence.”
Anderson says local officials haven’t really picked up any new information since shortly after the incident occurred.
“After talking to the detective supervisor, that there is nothing new, since originally that week when they were arrested,” Anderson explained.
What we do know is what we’ve known for months, that 18-year-old Dustin Alfaro and an unnamed juvenile made their way inside Arlyne Koehler’s home and stabbed her to death.
Alfaro has been in Bannock County custody for more than a month, while the unnamed 17-year-old is still in California.
“There’s nothing new on the case. They’ve tried to interview the adult, and he’s lawyered up and doesn’t want to speak,” Anderson said, explaining that investigators believe they will receive more information when they 17-year-old is back in Idaho.
Another case that’s been lingering on the minds of many is that of Ariel Arellano, whose body was found on the City Creek trail in early April.
Early signs appeared to indicate that his death may have been caused by hypothermia, but nothing has been ruled out by local authorities.
According to the Bannock County coroner, Ely Taysom, no cause of death was going to be declared until the toxicology report came back.
As of Wednesday, Taysom still hadn’t received the results. But Taysom had noted weeks ago that these tests can take a while.
“Toxicological analysis take longer if there is more foreign substances in the system, so, it’s very possible that this is taking long because he has a lot of things in his blood. we’ll just have to see,” Taysom said on May 1.
We will continue to follow these stories and update them as information becomes available.
