Former Winder resident caught

FBI agents were able to capture Thomas Steven Sanders Sunday morning at a truck stop in Gulfport, Miss. Sanders is now being charged by Louisiana officials for first-degree murder for the death of a 12-year-old girl.

Sanders, who at one time was a Winder resident, had been wanted for the kidnapping of a 12-year-old girl whose remains were discovered last month in Louisiana.

Sanders, 53, was wanted on a federal warrant which charges him with the kidnapping of Lexis Kaye Roberts. Reports indicate Sanders was last seen in early September during a trip to the Grand Canyon with the girl and her mother, Suellen Roberts of Las Vegas, who is still missing.

Reports say Roberts was dating the girl’s 31-year-old mother for just a few months when the three disappeared from Las Vegas on Labor Day weekend of 2010.

Reports indicated a hunter found the skeletal remains in October in a wooded area near Harrisonburg, La. and they were identified as those of Lexis Roberts. The girl had been shot multiple times with ammunition similar to that Sanders bought at a Las Vegas Walmart.

Sanders’ family had him declared legally dead in 1994 after they hadn’t heard from him in seven years. He was recently seen on surveillance cameras in a Las Vegas Walmart, however. Sanders has been previously convicted in Barrow County in 1994 for assaulting his girlfriends 3-year-old son. Sanders pleaded guilty as was given probation. He has been arrested several other times, including drug-related charges, and he has previously served time in state prison in Georgia.

The arrest occurred without incident. The FBI was assisted by the Harrison County, Miss. Sheriff’s Office with the arrest.

Sanders waived extradition to Louisiana and is scheduled to appear in magistrate court on Friday.