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New Mexican Is Charged in Sex Torture Slaying

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Associated Press

A man has been charged in the death of a 22-year-old woman whose disappearance is part of a 10-state investigation into alleged sexual torture and kidnapping.

While police have said for weeks the case possibly involved murder, their searches of a rural home and a lake have produced no bodies.

The only murder charge in the case is the one filed against Dennis Roy Yancy, 27, of Truth or Consequences. He was arrested Friday night and charged in the death of Marie B. Parker, 22, who disappeared in 1997.

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The investigation last month led to charges of kidnapping and sexual torture against David Parker Ray and his girlfriend, Cynthia Lea Hendy. Yancy, ordered held without bail, is a known associate of Ray and Hendy, FBI agent Doug Beldon said Saturday.

Marie Parker was last seen July 5, 1997, at a now-closed saloon not far from Ray’s home, Beldon said.

Ray, 59, and Hendy, 39, were charged with numerous crimes, including kidnapping, sexual abuse, battery and conspiracy. Both have pleaded innocent and remain in jail in lieu of $1 million bail each.

In addition to murder, Yancy was charged with kidnapping, conspiracy and evidence tampering, Beldon said.

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