The Emmet County Sheriff’s Office says an arrest has been made in the death of a 19-year-old Estherville man. Sheriff Mike Martens says a first-degree murder charge was filed Sunday night against 18-year-old Lee Samuel Christiansen of Estherville.
Christensen is accused of using a firearm to kill Thomas Bortvit of Estherville Saturday in rural Emmet County. Christiansen was taken into custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota and transported to the Hennepin County Jail where he is awaiting extradition back to Iowa.
The family of Thomas Bortvit reported his missing early Sunday. Estherville Police and the Emmet County Sheriff’s Department located the body of Bortvit late Sunday afternoon.
(Reporting by Ed Funston, KILR, Estherville)