Eloy Police: Oklahoma man found with dead wife in the passenger seat

ELOY, Ariz. (FOX 10) -- Officials with the Eloy Police department said an Oklahoma man is in jail after he was found traveling on the I-10 with his dead wife in the passenger seat.

According to a statement released by Sgt. Kristie Barnette, the man, identified as 70-year-old Rodney Puckett, was stopped by an Eloy Police detective in the area of Toltec Road and the I-10, southeast of Casa Grande. During the traffic stop, the detective spotted a dead woman sitting in the passenger seat. The woman has since been identified as Puckett's wife, 74-year old Linda Puckett.

Puckett, according to Eloy Police officials, told detectives that Linda died at a Texas hotel and that Puckett moved her body into the car, and continued towards their destination. Linda's body was turned over to the Pinal County Medical Examiner's Office, and Eloy Police is working with law enforcement in Texas to determine if Linda's death was the result of a homicide.

Puckett, according to Eloy Police officials, has been booked into the Pinal County Jail on a charge of abandonment or concealment of a body, with additional charges possibly filed at a later date.