A 39-year-old Independence County man is facing two counts of first-degree murder in the April 2025 deaths of his grandmother and her daughter, whose decomposing bodies were discovered inside their mobile home after a welfare check. Timothy John Neal was living in a camper on the same property at the time investigators say Patricia Anderson, 71, and her daughter Teresa Owens, 53, were bludgeoned to death.
An arrest warrant charges Neal with two Class Y felony counts of first-degree murder, and his bond was set at $1 million, according to White River Now. The warrant comes roughly 18 months after deputies first found the women's bodies, closing out a long-running joint investigation between the Independence County Sheriff's Department and the Arkansas State Police.
An obituary from Willis Funeral Service lists Neal among Anderson's grandchildren, confirming the familial relationship between the suspect and the woman prosecutors say he's accused of killing. Anderson lived with her daughter Owens in the mobile home on Old Camp Road, and Neal was found staying in the westernmost of three campers on the property when deputies responded to the scene.
Welfare Check Uncovers Grim Scene
Investigators began looking into the case after deputies responded to a welfare check request on April 15, 2025, at a home on the 1600 block of Old Camp Road, per the arrest affidavit cited by the same outlet. A caller had reported no contact with Patricia Anderson for a week. Deputies noticed a foul odor and an unlocked front door before entering the home.
Inside, authorities found both women's bodies. One body was on the kitchen floor; the other was on a bed in the east bedroom, covered with blankets, according to the affidavit. A cellphone displaying multiple missed calls and text messages was found near the body in the bedroom. The Arkansas State Crime Lab later determined both women died from blunt force trauma to the head, per the autopsy findings referenced in the affidavit.
Court documents filed this month show investigators now believe the women were actually killed on or about April 8, 2025, a full week before their bodies were found. That timeline is based on Owens' cellphone data and financial records, which indicate all communications and bank transactions abruptly stopped on April 7 and April 8, 2025.
Utility Records and a Suspect's Admission
Utility records showed a sharp spike in water usage at the mobile home on April 13, 2025, lasting from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m., days after the estimated time of death.
Court documents also indicate Neal missed a court-ordered therapy appointment that had been scheduled following an argument with Owens on April 8, 2025 — the same date investigators believe the killings occurred. When deputies first interviewed Neal, he denied any involvement in the deaths and claimed he had been sleeping in his camper and had not contacted the victims for three days.
The Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division officially joined the case on April 18, 2025, three days after local deputies discovered the crime scene, according to an announcement from the Arkansas Department of Public Safety. State investigators were brought in to assist given the complexity of the crime scene.
Remembering Patricia Anderson
Before her death, Anderson was a published poet and an active member of First Faith Pentecostal Church, according to her obituary. She also volunteered in her community, serving food to veterans and children at local VFW events — a portrait of a woman deeply rooted in her small corner of Independence County before her life was cut short.
What Neal Could Face in Court
Neal faces two Class Y felony counts of first-degree murder under Arkansas law.
Neal's bond was set at $1 million as the case moves through Independence County court. For a community that waited a year and a half for answers, the arrest marks the first concrete step toward accountability in the deaths of a grandmother and daughter who lived, and died, just steps from the camper where Neal was staying.
