Nancy Hartz is a woman who disappeared on July 28, 2015 from Lake Havasu City, Arizona with her skeletal remains being found on May 1, 2019 near Topock, Arizona and identified on December 15, 2020. The prime suspect in her death died before he could be brought to trial.
Case
Nancy Hartz was last seen by her family members with a male subject from Lake Havasu City. Through its investigation, the Mohave County Sheriff's Office learned the male subject was Robert Lawson Carnochan, a conman who used multiple aliases. The two met on an online dating site. Her family did not like him and insisted that she do not leave with him, especially since she cashed out her financial assets and was going on an RV trip with him. However, she insisted stating they were in love and that she would be fine.
Hartz's daughter received a phone call from someone claiming to be Nancy, but it is believed Carnochan had disguised his voice to sound like her. Additionally, a private investigator working for the family contacted the individual, who was tested to determine whether they were Nancy or not. The individual provided false answers for every question they were asked.
Carnochan was arrested on April 13, 2016 for three counts of fraudulent schemes and artifices, three counts of theft, four counts of forgery, and three counts of theft of a credit card. He was convicted on all counts, which are unrelated to Hartz's disappearance and death, and was sentenced to sixteen years in the Arizona Department of Corrections.
The MCSO considered Carnochan the main suspect in Hartz's case, but they couldn't connect him to the case without locating her body. In May of 2019, they responded to a call about multiple skeletal remains found in a remote desert area near Topock. The skeletal remains were recovered and sent to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification for examination. A profile was created on November 3, 2020 and the skeleton was identified as Nancy Hartz on December 15, 2020. On February 11, 2021, the MCSO received the Mohave County Medical Examiner's Office's Autopsy Report and the Forensic Anthropology Report relating to Hartz. It determined she was murdered via gunshot wounds.
Unfortunately, Carnochan died in prison on September 25, 2020 before he could be arrested and charged for her murder. He is also suspected in the disappearances of two other women, Neva Jane Lindley and Verna Clayton.
