CONSTABLE, N.Y. -
Neighbors say no one has lived in the cabin at 511 Poplar Street in Constable, N.Y., for years.
"The Amish lived in there a few years ago and they didn't stay very long. It's very run down," said Megan Clookey, a neighbor.
"They had, I think, two kids and they were the only ones. I didn't know of anybody else who lived there," neighbor Willard Patnode said.
Nor have they met the man who owns the property.
"It's kind of weird because there are not too many people who are on this road and we usually know everybody," Clookey said.
Perhaps that's because the owner is in Alaska, living behind bars while federal prosecutors decide if he should face the death penalty. That man is Israel Keyes, 34. He's already charged with kidnapping and killing an Anchorage teenager and he's the prime suspect in the double murder of Bill and Lorraine Currier, a Vermont couple randomly abducted from their Essex home and murdered more than a year ago.
According to town records, Keyes purchased the Constable cabin and 10-acre property in 1997. And he's kept up with his taxes ever since.
Even though the property is on a rural country road, several people we spoke to knew exactly where it was. That's because there's an artesian well on the property and several locals used to get their water there since the owner is not around.
Four years ago, Patnode wanted to buy the place, but couldn't find any information on the property. News of the owners' alleged violent past now has him second guessing his snooping.
"Oh, definitely it surprises me," he said. "Maybe I shouldn't even be digging into who owns it."
"It's kind of creepy to hear that somebody who done all that owns property down the road," Clookey said.
Before Sunday, no one in local law enforcement had ever publicly acknowledged Keyes' name. But that changed when New Hampshire Senior Assistant Attorney General Jane Young told the Union Leader that police investigating the murder of 11-year-old Celina Cass are getting information from the feds about Israel Keyes. Young told the New Hampshire newspaper: "State Police are aware of Mr. Keyes and they are being provided information through the FBI. Everybody is looked at in these cases. We would be remiss in our duty if we didn't follow up on any new information that came to light."
I spoke to Young on the phone Monday afternoon. She wanted to stress that she's not saying there is a connection between Israel Keyes and the Celina Cass murder case, but she did say she is aware of Keyes and she is looking at any information the FBI sends her way, if only to rule him out as a suspect.
Keyes has not yet been charged in the Essex murders, but charges are expected.
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Israel Keyes
Bill and Lorraine Currier
