In the quiet community of Littlefield, Arizona, a sense of unease settled over the friends and family of Susan and Jerry McFalls in January 2018. The couple, both 62 years old, had been spending the winter months at their Arizona home and were expected to return to their other residence in West Jordan, Utah. On January 11, 2018, Susan texted her daughter-in-law, confirming their travel plans for the weekend. However, the weekend came and went with no sign of Susan or Jerry.
As days turned into a week and a half with no contact, their family grew increasingly concerned and reported them missing on January 21st.
When Mohave County Sheriff's deputies conducted a welfare check at their Littlefield home, they were met with a scene that was both ordinary and chilling. The couple's vehicles were on the property, and inside the house, it appeared as though they had been in the middle of their daily routines. Music was playing, the television was on, and it looked like Susan had been preparing a meal. Crucially, all of their personal belongings, including their phones, wallets, identification, and medication, were left behind. Even their beloved pets remained at the home, something family members found deeply troubling as they knew the couple would never have willingly abandoned them.
The search for Susan and Jerry McFalls stretched on for months, a period of agonizing uncertainty for their loved ones. A significant breakthrough came on October 15, 2018, when two sets of human remains were discovered in a shallow grave in a desert area near the Virgin River Gorge. Just three days later, on October 18, one set of remains was positively identified as Susan McFalls through medical records and a medical device found with the body. It would take over a year, until January 30, 2020, for the second set of remains to be confirmed as Jerry McFalls through DNA analysis. The discovery of their bodies transformed a missing persons case into a homicide investigation.
For years, the case remained a painful mystery for the McFalls family. Finally, in March 2024, the Mohave County Sheriff's Office announced they had solved the double murder. The individual responsible was identified as Kenneth Gene Snyder, a 57-year-old neighbor of the McFalls in Littlefield. According to a witness who came forward, a verbal altercation had erupted between Jerry McFalls and Snyder at Snyder's residence. The argument escalated tragically, resulting in Snyder shooting and killing both Jerry and Susan. Snyder then removed their bodies from his property. The witness also stated that Snyder had threatened their life if they ever contacted law enforcement. However, no arrest could be made in the murders of Susan and Jerry McFalls. On June 1, 2023, Kenneth Gene Snyder was shot and killed during a domestic violence incident, bringing a final, albeit somber, close to the investigation.
