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Last updated on Monday, July 13, 2015
(DAVIESS CO.) - A police chase ended with two murder suspects injured.
The Daviess County Sheriff's Office received information from Leeds Police Department in Alabama to be on the lookout for a 1998, white, Ford Escort, with Alabama license plates. The vehicle was occupied by two people wanted for questioning in a murder and were possibly headed to Montgomery, Indiana. They were to be considered armed and dangerous.
According to Leeds Police Chief Byron Jackson, 30-year-old Candie Zito and her cousin, 26-year-old Cory Zito, showed up at their grandmother's home in Montgomery. She called police.
Saturday afternoon, just after 1:45 p.m., a deputy with the Daviess County Sheriff's Office noticed the vehicle pulling out from the Vikings Mart Gas station, cross over U.S. 50, and pull into the Dollar General Store parking lot.
The deputy followed the car, where a verbal exchange shortly followed. Officials say the deputy ordered the two to shut off the car and put their hands out the window. They refused to follow the order.
The driver of the vehicle put the car in reverse, jumped the curb of the store and took off eastbound on U.S. 50, leading police on a 20-minute chase.
Officials say the chase continued east on U.S. 50 at a high rate of speed, with the vehicle running others off of the roadway.
The chase continued into Martin County throughout the cities of Loogootee and Shoals. Officials say the driver lost control of the vehicle. The vehicle went down an embankment, striking some trees, ending the chase.
Both Cory Zito and Candie Zito were flown by helicopters to an Evansville hospital with serious injuries.
There is an ongoing investigation between the Daviess County Sheriff's Office and the Leeds City Police Department in Alabama.
Leeds City Police say the two are wanted for questioning in the death of 22-year-old Anthony Shane Gibson, whose body was discovered Sunday night in a wooded area in Leeds.
Gibson was last seen alive Thursday, July 2 when he left his home about 8 p.m., telling family he was going to a nearby store. He left in his grandmother's car, a white 1998 Ford Escort. He never returned.
Gibson's body was burned beyond recognition. Jackson says he couldn't disclose details of the crime scene and what may or may not have been found in the area around the body.
There have been no charges filed in Gibson's death.
Jackson says they will begin extradition once investigators get a better grasp on Candie Zito's condition and possible charges in Indiana.
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