APACHE JUNCTION — Pinal County authorities have opened an investigation into a murder-suicide case in Apache Junction.
Around 10:30 p.m. on Friday, Apache Junction's Police Department contacted Goodyear's PD to request help in finding 30-year-old Stuart Milne, a man who was potentially suicidal and armed. At the time, Milne was also making concerning statements about his girlfriend, Natasha Arredondo, of San Tan Valley.
AJ officers spotted Milne's car and pulled him over on Gaudalupe Road and Ironwood. As officers were giving verbal commands, Milne refused to show his right hand, and officers heard a gunshot from inside the car. Milne had taken his own life, and was pronounced dead on scene.
Further investigation led the officers on scene to learn that a Goodyear officer had been on the phone with Milne, and that Milne had continued to make concerning statements about himself and that he had done something to Arredondo.
Just shy of midnight, Arredondo's family reported her missing. Arredondo's young son had been discovered alone at her San Tan Valley residence. Milne and Arredondo cohabited, and this home was the last place they had been seen together.
At 8:34 a.m. on Saturday, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office recieved a call about a found body in an industrial park near Houston Road and Delaware Road in Apache Junction. After officers arrived on scene, they saw that the body had received multiple gunshot wounds and identified it as Natasha Arredondo.
Presently, PCSD investigators suspect that Arredondo was shot by Milne before he had spoken to AJPD and GYPD officers.
If you have any information, or any tips (no matter how small), please contact the Pinal County Sheriff's Office at 520-866-5149 for criminal investigations and 520-866-5181 for evidence.
