Nation IN BRIEF : MIDWEST : Manhunt Broadens in Car Thefts, Slayings

An investigation that began when Ruth Lucille Loader and her car were reported missing from her farmhouse in Port Washington, Ohio, has grown into a nationwide manhunt for two men suspected in a series of murders and car thefts extending from there to Oklahoma. Federal warrants had been issued for Lewis Eugene Gilbert, 22, and Eric Alvin Elliot, 16, both of Newcomerstown, a small Ohio town. The warrants accuse them of unlawful flight from charges of burglary and kidnaping in connection with Loader’s disappearance. Loader’s car was found Thursday, the same day the bodies of William Brewer, 86, and Flossie Brewer, 74, were found in their Fulton, Mo., home. The Brewers were robbed and each had been shot three times in the head, police said. The Brewers’ car was found next near Oklahoma City alongside the body of 37-year-old Roxie Ruddel, who had been shot to death. Her pickup was missing, police said.