(Tribune News Service) — The search for a U.S. Army veteran from Virginia who was reported missing near Taos last month took has taken a dark turn.

According to the Taos County Sheriff’s Office, two U.S. Army veterans with active warrants for desertion are being charged with murder on suspicion of fatally shooting and dismembering 25-year-old Matthew McLaughlin, a Virginia veteran who was reported missing July 31 in Tres Piedras, northwest of Taos.

Sheriff Steve Miera told the Journal on Monday that 23-year-old Rainor Joiner and 22-year-old David Degroat, both of Georgia, are in custody facing charges of first-degree murder and “other violent felonies” tied to McLaughlin’s death. A court record had not been filed detailing the charges.

Joiner and Degroat have been arrested.

Miera said Joiner admitted to killing and dismembering the 25-year-old after he and Degroat were detained for questioning while deputies searched the residence where they had been living with McLaughlin in Tres Piedras on Sunday. Miera said the deputies had obtained a search warrant for the home.

“Joiner admitted to shooting McLaughlin and dismembering him and disposing of the body parts at several locations along U.S. 64 near Tres Piedras,” according to a news release from the sheriff’s office. “Joiner led deputies to these areas where they recovered several plastic bags just as Joiner described.”

According to his family, McLaughlin had relocated from Virginia to Tres Piedras with the two veterans and his puppy last year after he was honorably discharged from the Army. Miera said the three men had served together at Fort Benning in Columbus, Ga.

Deputy Kevin McCarty, the lead investigator assigned to the case, said his office filed a missing persons report after receiving a phone call July 31 from a coworker and fellow veteran who became close with McLaughlin at the Chili Line Depot, a restaurant in Tres Piedras.

McLaughlin’s mother, Rebecca McLaughlin, and family, including her daughter-in-law, Kayla McLaughlin, came to Taos this month to look for the missing 25-year-old.

While McCarty said the sheriff’s office was initially uncertain as to the nature of McLaughlin’s disappearance and was holding off on more extensive searches until more information could be gathered, the family told the Journal they became suspicious after they were told that Joiner and Degroat “had changed their story so many times.”

Kayla McLaughlin informed the Journal of McLaughlin’s death Monday morning. She said the family is awaiting further word from investigators.

© 2025 the Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, N.M.).

Visit www.abqjournal.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Crime and courts