A 37-year-old Las Vegas man was apprehended by police on Thursday after his ex-roommate’s dead body was found in a freezer at the residence. Daniel Roush is facing an open murder charge following the discovery of the woman’s corpse in the locked freezer, according to Las Vegas TV station KLAS. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) didn’t immediately identify the 68-year-old victim.
The woman was last seen in October. A neighbor recently contacted the LVMPD concerned about her safety, according to Lt. Jason Johansson. The woman often was seen walking her dog before she disappeared, Johansson said. LVMPD officers first arrived at the Tres Piedras Road mobile home at about 11:40 a.m. on Wednesday.
Officers entered the residence after they didn’t get a response when attempting to talk to the woman. In the mobile home, Roush and a second person acted “in a suspicious nature” when asked about the woman, Johansson said. Officers began to search the residence. When they saw the locked chest freezer, they contacted a locksmith to open it up. Inside was the woman’s dead body.
An autopsy is likely to be performed to confirm her identity, as well as identify the cause and manner of death. Police said the description of the missing woman matched the body they found in the freezer. If convicted, Roush could face a prison sentence. He also faces drug charges, police said. It’s unknown if police expect to charge the second person, an unidentified woman, in the case. She reportedly was apprehended by police, too.
In an unrelated 2022 case, a boy was found dead in a freezer in Las Vegas. Concern about that victim was revealed after his mother gave her seven-year-old daughter a note to bring to an elementary school teacher. It explained that the woman was being abused by a boyfriend, police told NBC News. The woman also said she didn’t know the whereabouts of her four-year-old boy, later identified as Mason Dominguez. Police were alerted and found the deceased boy in the freezer, which was in a garage at the residence.
The suspect, Brandon Tosel, 35 at the time of the crime, was charged with 12 felonies, including murder, child abuse, kidnapping, and battery domestic violence. He was arrested on February 22, 2022. His court case is still pending. The allegedly abused woman and her two children moved into his Saddle Brook Park Drive residence in 2021.