2 Arrested In LA After Body Found In Bathtub Encased In Concrete

LOS ANGELES COUNTY, CA — Two men were arrested Wednesday in Los Angeles County in connection with the killing of a 73-year-old man who was found in a bathtub covered in concrete in Hawaii.

On Monday morning, police were called for a welfare check at a home in Honolulu's exclusive gated community of Hawaii Loa Ridge. Investigators launched a missing persons case and spoke with a 23-year-old man who said he was dating the homeowner and lived at the home.

The man allowed detectives to search the home, but they did not find the man. While at the home, detectives found a bathroom tub filled with a concrete-like substance. The tub was also covered in coffee grounds, Hawaii News Now reported. The man who let them in then left the home with a 34-year-old man.

A relative who asked for a welfare check had last talked with the man in early February and said he could be traveling, police Lt. Deena Thoemmes told reporters Tuesday.

“The initial case was a missing person investigation. It was not a criminal case,” Thoemmes said at the time.

But when investigators chipped away at the concrete, a strong smell of decomposition filled the bathroom, she told reporters. They found the man's body in the bathtub, and authorities launched a manhunt for the two men, who were considered dangerous. The suspects were identified as Juan Tejedor Baron, 23, and Scott Hannon, 34. They were last seen around 1 a.m. Tuesday near the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki. Hawaii News Now reported, citing anonymous sources, that Honolulu police officers dropped the men off in the area as part of a "courtesy transport."

On Wednesday, U.S. Marshals helped Honolulu police find and arrest the duo.

Around 2:15 p.m. Hawaiii time, marshals and LAPD arrested Baron on a Mexico-bound Greyhound bus in Anaheim. Baron was hiding in a crawl space under an enclosed bench at the back of the bus, authorities said. He pulled back a metal plate near the bus’s rear bathroom and crawled under the enclosed bench seat.

About 1 1/2 hours later, marshals and LAPD officers arrested Hannon near West Manchester Boulevard and South Oak Street in Inglewood.

Baron and Hannon were booked into the LAPD Metropolitan Detention Center. Charges were pending.