A former Saratoga County resident who worked as an accountant in Queensbury for years has been found dead in Arizona, and police out west are trying to locate the couple they believe was responsible for his death.
David Rathbun worked as a CPA and tax manager at the local accounting firm Whittemore, Dowen & Ricciardelli LLP for about a decade after a career that included a stint with Price Chopper’s corporate office. His sister, Linda Rathbun, said her family grew up in Burnt Hills, and a number of relatives still live in Saratoga County.
David Rathbun retired at 59 and moved in the summer of 2015 to Las Vegas, where he was enjoying his new hobbies of hiking and biking.
“My brother worked very hard all of his life and this was a dream of his,” Linda Rathbun said.
But things changed last September, when family members didn’t hear from him. Text messages received short responses, and voice mail messages were not returned.
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Relatives suspected something was up. But they found that his cellphone was still being used, and the user responded to text messages and even answered the phone, pretending to be Rathbun, when police called. Rathbun’s credit cards were still being used and his bank account was being accessed, according to his family.
Convincing police in Las Vegas that something was awry and that Rathbun would not have left Las Vegas of his own volition was difficult, though. Police there were still dealing with the aftereffects of the Mandolay Bay mass shooting, and missing persons cases are very common there.
“It’s Las Vegas, and the police told us people go there to disappear,” Linda Rathbun said. “They have so many missing people out there and so few missing people detectives.”
When police called David Rathbun’s cellphone, the man who answered told officers he was moving and did not want to have contact with his family.
As the weeks progressed, Rathbun’s family discovered that, as of mid-October, his home, car and prized BMW motorcycle had been sold for cash. Those revelations confirmed their fears he had met with foul play. When family members flew to Las Vegas in October, they found his home empty.
In December, police concluded Rathbun likely was dead, and his death was likely a homicide. By this spring, when no further clues had developed as to what became of Rathbun, Las Vegas Police publicly identified two transients — Charles Ausiello, 55, and Jolene Hibbs, 45 — as “persons of interest” in connection with his disappearance, based on bank surveillance videos that showed a man making a withdrawal from Rathbun’s bank account in Las Vegas. Warrants have been issued for their arrest.
David Rathbun is believed to have helped Hibbs at some point before his disappearance, as she claimed she was seriously ill and homeless, relatives of Rathbun’s said.
Police had few clues about what had happened to Rathbun until they got a tip earlier this summer that led to the recovery of remains in a desert in northern Arizona. Those remains were identified through dental records as Rathbun’s.
Linda Rathbun said police have not released the remains to the family, and the family is awaiting an official ruling on manner and cause of death.
The disappearance of David Rathbun and discovery of his remains have attracted significant media attention in the Las Vegas area. But police have not been able to locate Ausiello and Hibbs, both of whom have a history of fraud-related arrests and convictions. A third, unidentified man was being sought in connection with the case as well.
David Rathbun’s daughter, former Saratoga County resident Natasha Rathbun, said Friday that police have not reported any recent developments in the search. Rathbun’s family is concerned that Ausiello and Hibbs may harm others before they are caught.
“We know these people are evil and we don’t want them to hurt anyone else,” she said.
“My brother was a good man,” Linda Rathbun. “He was a hard worker, a CPA and a perfectionist. He didn’t deserve this.”
Anyone with information in the case is being asked to call Las Vegas Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555.