Couple Arrested Weeks After Pregnant Woman, Husband Went Missing and Car Was Found Burning

A Nebraska couple is facing criminal charges after two relatives vanished last month and are now believed to have been killed.

Hannah Neville, 26, was reported missing after she left Stromsburg, Neb., on Jan. 15, the Nebraska State Patrol said in a statement last week.

A missing persons report for her husband, Roberto Tanner, 27, was filed on Thursday, Jan. 29, in Lincoln after Polk County authorities contacted Lincoln police about the couple’s disappearance, Lincoln police said in a statement this week.

Authorities have arrested 24-year-old Sterling James and his wife, 22-year-old Sayde Titus, in connection with the case.

Investigators allege James confessed to fatally shooting Tanner and Neville between the late hours of Jan. 15 and the early hours of Jan. 16, according to the Lincoln Police Department.

James is Tanner’s half-brother, police said, according 7 News and KETV.

Neville’s roommate reported her missing after not seeing her since Jan. 15, when Neville — who was seven months pregnant — was traveling to Lincoln to pick up her husband, per the statement. 7 News and KETV reported she was seven months pregnant.

Using witness accounts and cellphone data, investigators traced the couple’s last known location to Titus’s apartment on the evening of Jan. 15.

Police say Neville’s car was found burning early in the morning on Jan. 16 in Lincoln. When officers attempted to contact Neville to notify her about the car fire, her phone was no longer in service.

Authorities now allege James admitted to fatally shooting the couple, then burying their bodies and setting Neville’s car on fire. Investigators say Titus helped James after the alleged killings.

Officials are still searching for the bodies.

James has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, Lincoln Police said. Titus has been charged with two counts of aiding and abetting first-degree murder.

It was not immediately clear whether James or Titus has entered pleas or retained attorneys to speak on their behalf.