Suspect sought in fatal stabbing of woman in Pocola

POCOLA, Okla. (AP) – Authorities in eastern Oklahoma are searching for a suspect in the fatal stabbing of a woman.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says troopers launched an investigation about 8:30 a.m. Monday after the victim’s body was discovered near a park in Pocola, about 172 miles east of Oklahoma City near the border with Arkansas. The victim was not immediately identified.

Kagen Bevil, dispatch supervisor at the LeFlore County Sheriff’s Office, says authorities are searching for a 31-year-old suspect in the slaying. Officials say the suspect may be armed with a machete and that schools in the area have been locked down as a precaution.

Bevil says the suspect is believed to be hiding near a field on the opposite side of the park from where the victim’s body was found.