(MARICOPA COUNTY, Ariz.) — A suspect has now been arrested after two teenagers were found fatally shot in May on an isolated hiking trail in Arizona, according to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.

The sheriff’s office said Thomas Brown, 31, has been arrested on two counts of first-degree murder in the killings on Mount Ord, a popular remote hiking and camping area.

The victims had been identified as 18-year-old Pandora Kjolsrud and 17-year-old Evan Clark.

Both teens were shot multiple times, according to law enforcement.

“What a senseless, violent act, the murder of two young teenagers while out camping,” Maricopa County Sheriff Jerry Sheridan said at a press conference Friday.

The suspect admitted to having an interaction with the two teens while they were hiking, but there is “no evidence” to suggest there was any association between the teens and the suspect.

“They were likely complete strangers,” Capt. David Lee said at the press conference.

“I can’t find the words to express how sorry we are for what they’ve gone through and for the continuing victimization that a crime like this causes those families,” Lee said.

The teens were first reported overdue on May 26 after a woman told law enforcement that her daughter was out camping with friends and her last known location was Mount Ord, between the cities of Mesa and Payson, Lee said.

A responding sergeant found a vehicle in the area — later identified as Clark’s — and tried to make contact with occupants but was unable to. The sergeant then requested backup, Lee said.

The additional deputies continued their search until they found a campground further up the mountain, Lee said.

“In that campsite, they noticed conditions that suggested there was evidence of something being dragged away from that camp area. They would then locate the bodies of Pandora Kjolsrud and Evan Clark, who were pronounced deceased on the scene,” Lee said.

The sheriff’s office at the time said the deaths were being treated as “suspicious.”

In the following days, detectives received many tips, including one that Brown was camping on Mount Ord on that day. Another tip from a different group of campers said they encountered an individual “acting very strangely,” Lee said.

“The tip from those campers detailed some very specific observations that caused our detectives to heighten our focus and focus our detective’s investigative efforts into Thomas Brown’s involvement,” Lee said.

Brown told law enforcement he was camping on Mount Ord from the May 23 to 26, saying his wife was with him, but that she left the morning of May 25 and he stayed behind, Lee said.

Police believe Brown acted alone, Lee said.  

Brown provided law enforcement “false and misleading information” regarding his involvement with evidence and the comparison of his statements and physical evidence led to his apprehension, according to Lee.

Simone Schultz, Kjolsrud’s mother, spoke at the press conference, describing her daughter as a “beautiful, brilliant light in this world.”

“The light and love and beauty she gave us will be in our hearts forever, and the darkness that she encountered on that day when she met her killer will not define her life; his darkness will never overcome her light,” Schultz said.

“I have full faith in our judicial system to evaluate the evidence in this double homicide and find the perpetrator guilty of the violent murders he committed against two innocent teenagers,” she said. “My daughter’s life matters, and I look forward to the day the perpetrator is convicted and punished for his crimes.”

The two teens were students at Arcadia High School in Phoenix, according to a letter the principal wrote to parents at the time.

“This last week Evan was taken from me, and my level of grief feels insurmountable. I find myself at a complete loss to imagine a life without him,” Sandra Malibu Sweeney, Clark’s mother, said in a statement shortly after he was found dead. “It is a small comfort to share some things about this boy who was on his way to becoming a wonderful man.”

She continued, “Evan wasn’t a typical teenager. He was funny, bright, kind and entrepreneurial. He was an old soul who was sensitive and loving. Evan wrote me letters, the last of which he gave me on Mother’s Day that was so touching it made me both laugh and cry. He was special. He deserved a long life.”

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