Hotel owners near McCall shot and killed over the weekend by guest, police say

A 28-year-old Washington man was arrested and booked into jail after police alleged he shot and killed the owners of a hotel near McCall.

Multiple law enforcement agencies responded to a report of an active shooter on Saturday at the Hartland Inn in New Meadows, where they located the bodies of 45-year-old Sara Mehen and 47-year-old Rory Mehen, according to a news release from the Adams County Sheriff’s Office.

John Cody Hart was apprehended and booked into the Washington County Jail on two counts of first-degree murder; he was transferred to the Adams County Jail on Monday, online jail records showed.

“We would like to thank all the agencies that assisted during this critical event,” the sheriff’s office said in the release. “Our hearts and prayers go out to the families affected by this tragedy.”

At 12:42 p.m. Saturday, the Adams County Sheriff’s Office, along with Idaho State Police, the McCall Police Department and medical personnel, located the hotel owners’ bodies in the main office of the Hartland Inn, the release said. Police then identified Hart — who was a guest at the hotel — as the suspect.

Hart was seen leaving the hotel in a blue Subaru and traveling south on U.S. 95, police said, and another witness saw the Subaru continue south past Council. An off-duty Adams County sheriff’s deputy who was headed back to Adams County to help find Hart located the Subaru heading south and followed, according to the release.

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office and Weiser Police Department were notified and began following the vehicle with the off-duty deputy, the release said. Hart was then pulled over by authorities near Cambridge, which is in Washington County, and taken into custody without any issues, according to the release.