PHOENIX — The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office intends to submit criminal charges against suspects who were allegedly involved in the murder of a 41-year-old Valley man two years ago.
Benjamin Anderson's body was found on fire on Dec. 31, 2021 in a desert area near Interstate 17 and Table Mesa Road. His friends and family had reported him missing that same evening.
Anderson's torched car was found a short time later about 30 miles away in the parking lot of UEI College.
The case has remained unsolved over the last two years but new developments may be happening soon.
MCSO said Thursday that investigators have identified suspects and they are in the process of combing through digital data and records to collect more evidence against the suspects.
Regardless of what they find, MCSO said they "will be submitting charges against the alleged suspects."
The sheriff's office also dismissed the notion that Anderson's death may be tied to other homicides in the Valley.
"We have also been aware that there are rumors that this case is related, or possibly related to other agency criminal cases, but detectives had worked with those agencies and there is no obvious relation," the agency wrote in a statement.
Names of these alleged suspects have not been disclosed.
What is the Valley?:
“The Valley” is what locals call the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. It is considered the largest metropolitan area in the Southwest.
The Valley is made up of various major cities other than Phoenix, including:
- Mesa
- Chandler
- Scottsdale
- Tempe
- Glendale
- Surprise
- Peoria
- Gilbert
- El Mirage
- Avondale
- Litchfield Park
- Goodyear
- Buckeye
Whether a city is in the “East Valley” or “West Valley” depends on where it is in relation to Phoenix.
The cities of the Valley have a combined population of 4,845,832 people, according to the 2020 United States Census. This makes it the 11th largest metropolitan area in the country right behind the Boston and Atlanta areas.
How big is Maricopa County?
Maricopa County is the United States’ 4th largest county in terms of population with 4,485,414 people, according to the 2020 Census.
The county contains around 63% of Arizona’s population and is 9,224 square miles. That makes the county larger than seven U.S. states (Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, Hawaii, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New Hampshire).
One of the largest park systems in the nation is also located in Maricopa County. The county has an estimated 120,000 acres of open space parks that includes hundreds of miles of trails, nature centers and campgrounds.
The county’s seat is located in Phoenix, which is also the state capital and the census-designated 5th most populous city in the United States.
The county was named after the Maricopa, or Piipaash, Native American Tribe.