A 70-year-old mining prospector has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of his wife, who he allegedly buried near one of his mines.
Investigators from a multi-jurisdictional task force on Saturday recovered the body of Cynthia Hankins-Runnels, 36, after six hours of digging at a site 33 miles north of Craig in Moffat County.
The task force consisted of officers from the Craig Police Department, the Moffat County Sheriff’s Department, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Land Management.
Arrested was Terrence Joe Hankins, 70, who was living at and operating a mining claim at the remote location, according to Craig Police Chief Walter Vanatta.
According to Vanatta, Hankins was being investigated for a variety of criminal activities when information developed that related to the disappearance of his wife. She had been missing since June 3.
Search warrants were executed for the mining claim and for an area immediately adjacent to the claim on BLM land where Hankins’ wife was allegedly buried.
Vanatta said that searchers used heavy equipment and hand tools in excavating the burial site.
The victim’s body was found buried in a grave covered with a pile of dirt approximately 12 feet wide at the base and six feet high, Vanatta said. He said it appeared that the crime occurred in Craig and that the body was later moved.
Hankins is being held in the Moffat County Detention Center. He is charged with first-degree murder; abusing a corpse; tampering with evidence; forgery, theft and possession of a controlled substance.
Staff writer Howard Pankratz can be reached at 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
