US Marshals arrest man in Colorado in connection to missing Austin man

AUSTIN, Texas – The US Marshals Fugitive Task Force arrested a man in connection to an Austin missing man. Austin police said Justin Haden has been missing since Nov. 1.

On Nov. 23, US Marshals arrested Gavin Roberts, 26, who was wanted by the Austin Police Department (APD) for tampering with physical evidence of a human corpse.

Justin Haden, 34, was last seen alive just after midnight on Nov. 1. Security cameras showed him in his apartment complex at the Domain.

He was reported missing on Nov. 7. It is currently unknown why it took six days for him to be reported missing.

According to court documents, security camera video showed Haden in a Halloween costume returning to his apartment complex with another man. 

In the afternoon of Nov. 1, Roberts was spotted wearing a hoodie, latex gloves and a face mask. He was seen struggling to drag a large, blue plastic bin with a suitcase on top of it from Haden’s apartment. Blood was later found in Haden’s home.

Robert’s vehicle was also seen on surveillance video in the apartment parking garage, and at businesses in Austin and Jarrell. He admitted to removing items from Haden’s apartment and being in Jarrell, but denied any knowledge of Haden’s whereabouts.

APD conducted an investigation and immediately requested assistance from the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force-Austin Division to find and arrest Roberts, who had fled the Austin area.

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The LSFTF initiated a fugitive investigation and learned Roberts had traveled to Thornton, Colorado. A collateral lead was sent to the U.S Marshals Violent Offender Task Force in Colorado, requesting assistance to arrest Roberts.

In Thornton, the USMS Colorado Violent Offender Task Force found Roberts outside a home in the 9500 block of Pecos Street and took him into custody. 

Roberts is facing charges of tampering with a human corpse. He was booked into the Denver Detention Center where he awaits extradition to Austin.