LAS VEGAS, NV, December 18, 2023—NBA G League basketball player Chance Comanche, 27, and his girlfriend Sakari Harnden, 19, have been charged with the murder of 23-year-old Lynnwood woman Marayna Rodgers after her remains were found in a Nevada desert, Las Vegas police said.
Comanche, who played for the Stockton Kings, an NBA G League affiliate of the Sacramento Kings, was arrested Friday, December 15, for first-degree kidnapping charges at a Sacramento jail. He now awaits extradition to a Nevada facility.
Two individuals have been arrested in connection with the disappearance and killing of a 23-year-old female after executing murder plan.
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— LVMPD (@LVMPD) December 17, 2023
Harnden was arrested Wednesday, December 13, also on a kidnapping charge and booked into Clark County Detention Center in Nevada. The couple now face murder charges after they “executed a murder plan,” local police said.
Their victim, Rodgers, who hailed from Lynnwood, had been reported missing since December 7. According to a press release by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police, Rodgers had made plans early that day to meet up with Harnden, who was to bring her boyfriend (Comanche) along—Rodgers had not been seen or heard from since. Detectives working on the case suspected foul play from early in the investigation and obtained evidence that led to the arrests of Harnden and Comanche for Rodgers’ kidnapping and disappearance.
Rodgers was visiting Las Vegas with friends. According to them, she was last seen getting into an Uber on her way to Summerlin, a neighborhood in West Las Vegas, but never arrived. She had been sharing her location via her cellphone with both her family and friends with the last location pinging Restless River Street, about 11-miles south of the Last Vegas Strip around 3 a.m. Her friends immediately grew concerned when Rodgers did not arrive at her intended destination and filed a missing persons report the following day.
Based on information obtained after the two suspects’ arrests, Detectives were able to locate remains in a desert near Henderson, Nevada. Henderson is about a 24-minute drive, or approximately 15 miles from the city of Las Vegas. The remains were later identified as Rodgers with Harnden and Comanche determined to be responsible for her murder. The charges for both individuals will be amended to open murder following coordination with the Clark County Attorney’s Office.
Comanche is being held without bail with his next court date scheduled for Wednesday, December 20. He played a game against the Rip City Remix in Portland the day after Rodgers went missing. Prior to playing for NBA G League team the Stockton Kings he was drafted out of the University of Arizona and made one appearance in the NBA for the Portland Trailblazers in 2023.
Harnden’s bail was set at $500,000. A criminal complaint states she held Rodgers against her will or consent with the intention of killing her and/or inflicting bodily harm, as first reported by Q13 on Sunday.
Marayna Rodgers worked as a medical assistant in Lynnwood. She had a boyfriend, two dogs, and was said to be compassionate, outgoing, and extremely close to her family and friends.
Author: Kienan Briscoe
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