Authorities are naming Bethany A. Decker’s husband and boyfriend as “people of interest” in the investigation into the pregnant Army wife’s disappearance.
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Decker, a 21-year-old George Mason University student, was last seen Jan. 29. Her husband, 21-year-old Emile Decker, left for Afghanistan with his Army National Guard unit Feb. 2. Investigators have questioned both Emile Decker — who has returned from Afghanistan — and Bethany Decker’s boyfriend, 30-year-old Ronald Roldan, said Vincent DiBenedetto, spokesman for the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office.
He said neither man is considered a suspect at this point.
“A person of interest is someone we wanted to talk to, it’s a person who had some information,” DiBenedetto said.
Officials have also searched her apartment and woods nearby. No signs of foul play were discovered.
Decker is five to six months pregnant, and authorities had identified Roldan as the baby’s father. But DiBenedetto said Thursday that Emile Decker was home from Afghanistan at the beginning of October, when Bethany would have become pregnant, and investigators don’t know who the father is. DiBenedetto said authorities had previously believed Emile Decker wasn’t in the country at the time.
Emile Decker last saw his wife in the early morning of Jan. 29. Authorities believe Roldan was the last person to see Bethany Decker, at her apartment on Orchard Grass Terrace in Ashburn, later that day.
DiBenedetto said Emile Decker and Roldan are cooperating. Neither could be reached Thursday. Other family members and friends have also been interviewed by authorities.
“It sounds to me as if the sheriffs are doing their job and trying to rule out folks,” said Peter Byrnes, an attorney representing Bethany Decker’s family.
Authorities are also trying to figure out who posed as Bethany Decker on Facebook. Someone used her account to send messages to friends.
“If we can find out from where the Facebook entries were made, that would certainly be very helpful,” DiBenedetto said.
There has been no activity on Decker’s bank accounts, cell phone or credit cards since she disappeared.
She is described as white, 4 feet 11 inches tall and 130 pounds. She has brown hair and brown eyes.
Anyone with information can call investigators at 703-777-0475.
