Police: More arrests, twists in slaying of Bullhead City girl

KINGMAN, Ariz. — Additional arrests and new twists have been reported in the aftermath of the slaying of an 8-year-old girl in Bullhead City six weeks ago.

The girl’s mother, the mother’s husband, the husband’s mother, their neighbor and a woman police said is the husband’s girlfriend were all arrested after officers served a drug-related search warrant at a home on Lakeside Drive Wednesday.

It’s the same home from which Isabella “Bella” Grogan-Canella went missing in early September before her body was located in a shallow grave a half mile away days later.

Justin Rector, 26, a friend of Bella’s mother, Tania Grogan, 29, is being held without bond and has pleaded not guilty to kidnapping, murder and other charges linked to Bella’s strangulation and burial.

Agency spokeswoman Emily Fromelt said Bullhead City police officers and SWAT team members arrived at the Lakeside Drive duplex about 5 p.m. Wednesday as part of an investigation involving alleged drug sales by Grogan and her husband Ralph Folster, 28.

Fromelt said Grogan was taken into custody without incident but that Folster refused to exit the residence during a two-hour barricade ordeal. During that time Folster allegedly called his girlfriend Niki Fox, 21, and asked her to create a diversion so he could escape.

Fromelt said Fox made a bogus 911 call and falsely reported an officer had been shot at another location hoping that officers would pull off the barricade scene, allowing Folster to escape. Fromelt said Folster used attic space to gain access to the adjoining duplex unit during the standoff with police Wednesday afternoon and evening.

Folster surrendered and his neighbor, Jaime Medrano, 27, was placed in custody and faces a charge of hindering prosecution for harboring Folster, Fromelt said.

Fox was arrested at her residence in the 300 block of Church Street after struggling with police at about 1:30 a.m. Thursday, Fromelt said. She faces charges of hindering prosecution, false reporting to law enforcement and resisting arrest.

Folster’s mother, Freddie Nicholson, 59, lived in an upstairs bedroom of the duplex, Fromelt said. She said during a search of the home the day after Bella’s body was located authorities learned that “Nicholson assisted Tania Grogan with her drug sales inside the residence.”

Nicholson was arrested and faces charges of transportation of dangerous drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia. Fromelt said no drugs were found in the search of the residence conducted Wednesday.

Fromelt said that Folster became involved in a relationship with Fox about a month ago and that Grogan was aware of the romance.

Prosecutor Greg McPhillips said he has not yet decided whether he will seek the death penalty in the case against Rector. He still awaits DNA lab testing results that could determine whether Bella was sexually assaulted before she was strangled.

A police affidavit stated that Rector admitted smoking methamphetamine in Nicholson’s bedroom for much of the day before Bella went missing.