A 22-year-old man sought after his mother was found shot dead at their home in Reading, Massachusetts, has been arrested in Vermont following a multi-state search.
Ryan Hanafin was detained without incident on Thursday afternoon after Vermont State Police spotted him driving south on Route 100 near the Sugarbush Access Road in Warren. Officers from the Washington County Sheriff’s Department assisted with the traffic stop.
Hanafin was taken into custody on a fugitive-from-justice charge and was being held without bail. He was expected to appear before Vermont Superior Court in Barre on Friday afternoon.
The arrest came hours after police were called to a home on Center Avenue in Reading shortly after midnight. Hanafin’s father had returned from work and found his wife, 49-year-old Andria Hanafin, dead in the kitchen with an apparent gunshot wound.
Mrs Hanafin was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office. Her 13-year-old son was also at the property but was unharmed.
Ryan Hanafin, who lived at the address, was not at home when officers arrived and was identified as a person of interest in the homicide investigation. Police said he could be armed and dangerous and issued an appeal for information about his whereabouts.
Massachusetts State Police alerted their counterparts in Vermont after receiving information that Hanafin might be in the state. Investigators then focused their search on Warren, an area where he was believed to be familiar.
Police had been looking for a black 2010 Dodge Charger linked to Hanafin. Authorities in Vermont said they remained in close contact with Massachusetts investigators as the circumstances surrounding Andria Hanafin’s death continued to be examined.
