Mendocino County authorities have arrested a Laytonville man for the suspected murder of a man who was reported missing two weeks before his remains were found covered in tree limbs and brush on a rural wooded property on which both lived.
Phillip Frase, 62, was being held in the Mendocino County Jail with bail of $500,000 in connection with the case, authorities said.
Frase is accused in the death of Steven Richard Schmidt, 49, a transient who had been living in a motor home on the Bell Springs Road where Frase resided.
Sheriff's Capt. Kurt Smallcomb said Wednesday that detectives are investigating whether the two men had been growing marijuana together on the property about 2 1/2 miles off Highway 101 to the east.
"We believe that to be the case," Smallcomb said.
But it was unclear what the source of any conflict might have been.
An autopsy Wednesday indicated Schmidt died of blunt force trauma to the head, authorities said.
His injuries suggested he was killed by a very large object, they said.
Frase was arrested after investigators - aided by cadaver dogs and search and rescue personnel - combed the rural property for evidence in the missing man case Tuesday and found the deceased covered in freshly cut branches and brush next to a tree.
The remains, Smallcomb said, had been exposed to the elements for some time when they were found.
Authorities said Schmidt was reported missing Jan. 17 and his disappearance has been under investigation since then. Smallcomb declined to say who reported him missing.
Deputies found his motor home inexplicably parked and unoccupied in Fort Bragg, and towed it to the sheriff's office for further scrutiny, Smallcomb said.
He would not say if it contained evidence of foul play.
Frase lived in one of the buildings on the property, Smallcomb said, and was contacted there when authorities arrived to search the land early Tuesday morning.
He was arrested Wednesday afternoon and booked into the Mendocino County Jail.
Authorities are asking anyone with information about the case to call detectives on their tip line, (707) 467-5159.
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