Third arrest made in Osage County missing person, homicide case

Thirty-six-year-old Kathleen Roland, charged with accessory to conjoint robbery, appeared in Osage County District Court on Tuesday following her arrest Monday at the Georgian Arms apartments near downtown Bartlesville.

Authorities arrested Bartlesville residents Trysta Shaffer, 28, and Rusty Petty, 40, on charges of conjoint robbery, nearly a week after they were seen with the missing Hauser on Aug. 9, who was leaving Osage Casino just west of Bartlesville. This was the last time he was seen.

Officials believe the suspects had advance knowledge that Hauser was going to leave the casino with an amount of money, and found him, beat him, took the money and left him for dead.

Osage County Chief Criminal Investigator Charlie Cartwright told 2NEWS on Wednesday the charge against Roland stems from their belief she had knowledge of the incident after the fact and failed to divulge it to authorities.

“We've known about Miss Roland for awhile,” he told 2NEWS. “She had not been a major focus of the investigation. It was just one of those things that needed to be cleared up and set before the court.”

Cartwright said the sheriff's office might anticipate additional individuals being charged later.

“This is an active case, an ongoing case and we are working on it pretty hard,” he said, adding though that the “trillion leads” have not turned up the whereabouts of Hauser's body.

Due to reappear in court on Thursday, Roland is now being held at the Osage County jail on a $25,000 bond.