Max Tackett, a 33-year-old Arkansas State Police officer, a rookie at the time, realized that a car had been stolen on the night of one of the murders, and that a previously stolen car had been found abandoned. On Friday, June 28, 1946, Tackett found a car in a parking lot that had been reported as stolen. He staked out the car until someone came back to it, then arrested a 21-year-old woman, Peggy Swinney. She said that she had just gotten married in Shreveport, but that her husband was currently in Atlanta, Texas, trying to sell another stolen car. Homer Carter, the chief of police in Atlanta, told Tackett that a man had tried selling a stolen car to one of his citizens. Tackett asked the citizen if he would recognize the suspect, but the man said that he would not. Tackett noticed that the citizen had a distinct appearance, which included a cowboy hat and boots. Tackett told the citizen, "You wouldn't recognize him, but he would recognize you."