Police arrest 1 in connection with missing Kingman man

An arrest has been made in connection with the murder of Sidney Cranston, a 40-year-old Kingman man who had been missing for more than a year and a half.

Kingman Deputy Police Chief Rusty Cooper said Kingman resident Alfredo Blanco, 61, was arrested Wednesday afternoon in Phoenix. Blanco, who was expected to be booked later Wednesday into Mohave County Jail, faces a first-degree murder charge.

Blanco worked for Cranston, performing maintenance and collecting rent on Cranston-owned properties in northwest Arizona. A court affidavit said a Kingman man last Friday provided information that led authorities to Cranston’s body last Saturday.

Remains believed to be those of Cranston were recovered from a burial site near a barn on a large ranch property about 20 miles east of Kingman. The man who identified the location told police that Blanco used a shotgun to kill Cranston inside a home on that ranch property.

That man also is a focus of the investigation, but has not been charged, police said.

The victim’s brother, Chris Cranston, said the family is thankful after spending 18 months searching for Cranston, who went missing in June 2015. Family members now will focus their efforts toward justice and conviction of anyone involved in Cranston’s death, he added.