HAPPY JACK – On March 30 around 3:30 p.m., the Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a partially decomposed body at Bly Pit in the Blue Ridge area.

Detectives were able to make a preliminary identification of the victim as 37-year-old Tika Young of Happy Jack, Arizona. The ID is still pending by the Coconino County Medical Examiner’s office.

With the preliminary identification, CCSO detectives served a search warrant at a residence in the community where they discovered evidence of a crime. During the search, they identified a person of interest. The person of interest was Patrick D. Nagel, 62-years-old of Happy Jack.

Nagal was brought into the Sheriff’s Office for questioning. During an interview with Detectives, the person admitted to striking the victim several times while the victim was lying in bed. The subject then moved the victim and concealed her in the area identified as Bly Pit where her body was subsequently found.

Nagel was arrested and booked into the Coconino County Jail for First Degree Homicide, Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon, Tampering with Physical Evidence, Abandonment/Concealment of a Dead Body, and Consuming Liquor While Operating a Vehicle.