Updated: Kentucky man accused of slaying his father, grandfather arrested in Indiana
The Pulaski County man suspected of killing his father and grandfather and attacking his grandmother was arrested in Indiana Wednesday, according to the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office.
Officials across multiple agencies started looking for Austin Prather, the 20-year-old suspect, late Tuesday night.
The sheriff’s office confirmed just before 9 p.m. Wednesday that he had been arrested.
Working with investigators from Pulaski County, the Evansville police, the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Marshals Service found Prather by tracking his cell phone, Pulaski County Sheriff Bobby Jones said in a release issued Thursday.
Officers from Pulaski County went to Indiana to continue the investigation.
Prather was being held in the jail in Evansville pending proceedings to extradite him to Kentucky.
The case started late Tuesday when officers went to investigate a report of a shooting in Science Hill, a small town in the northern part of the county, at 11:47 p.m., according to a news release.
They found Ardyth “Ray” Prather Jr., 67, dead from apparent gunshot wounds. His wife, Joann Prather, 65, had been shot and stabbed but was alive and taken to a Lexington hospital for treatment.
Police saw a neighboring house on Raleigh Road had blood on the door.
When officers went to check on the situation, they found Ardyth “Trae” Prather III, 43, dead inside the house, according to the release.
Austin Prather is the son of Ardyth Prather III and grandson of Ardyth Prather Jr. and Joann Prather, according to the sheriff’s office.
Maj. Jeff Hancock with Jones’ office said police don’t yet have any information on what led to the killings.
Officers from the sheriff’s office, the Somerset Police Department, Kentucky State Police and the Science Hill department responded to the scene.
Austin Prather had fled before police arrived in a brown 2013 Jeep Wrangler, according to Jones.
Police were in the process Wednesday morning of getting warrants for Austin Prather charging him with two counts of murder and one of attempted murder.
Reporter Chris Leach contributed to this story.
This story was originally published November 8, 2023 at 11:28 AM.
