State Police walk Anthony G. Bechand, center, out of the Ray Brook Barracks Friday afternoon. Bechand, 53, of Cohoes, was arrested in connection with the Sept. 13 stabbing death of his girlfriend, following a 12-day manhunt. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

RAY BROOK — State Police captured Anthony G. Bechand, the 53-year-old Cohoes man wanted in connection with the Sept. 13 stabbing death of his girlfriend, on Friday morning.

Troopers received two tips from civilians about a “suspicious individual” walking near Paul Smith’s College on state Route 86 on Friday, according to State Police spokeswoman Brandi Ashley. This was around 3 miles from where his truck was located at the intersection of county Route 60 and state Route 86 in Brighton on Sept. 14.

Troopers and Franklin County Sheriff deputies patrolled the area Friday morning and found Bechand at around 7:30 a.m. He was taken into custody without incident and transported to the NYSP Ray Brook barracks for further questioning.

There’s a lot still unknown about this whole case and manhunt.

The arrest comes one day after a press conference held at the State Police Troop B Headquarters in Ray Brook, when police said they had no leads on the investigation.

There had not been so much as a confirmed sighting in the whole week and a half, said Cohoes Mayor and retired state trooper Bill Keeler.

“Obviously, he had been hiding in the area for the last 10 days,” he said.

It is still unclear exactly where Bechand was staying.

Police believe he traveled to the Tri-Lakes region alone and that he has no known connections to the area, aside from the family of his girlfriend, Amanda Margaret “Mandee” Rodriguez, 41, who was born in Malone and worked for a short time at Paul Smith’s College.

Keeler hopes Bechand’s capture will give Rodriguez’s family some closure ahead of her services in Altona today.

At the point of the press conference, the search had covered over 600 miles of recorded tracks over an area covering more than 950 acres. Cohoes Police Chief Todd Waldin said police searched around 270 of an estimated 1,000 homes, hunting camps and structures in the area, with numerous interviews conducted at those with active residents.

Waldin said police are still unsure why he came here, and he may not have planned to end up where he did. Police also said his truck was out of gas.

Bechand may have also been injured. Police said they found evidence, including blood, at the truck, suggesting that Bechand suffered some sort of injury “to his left side.” His current condition had not been made public.

Waldin said the blood in the truck was likely from a “superficial injury.”

Waldin said he did not hear anything about Bechand having a weapon when he was apprehended.

Ashley thanked the community and the media for their assistance in locating Bechand.

“This search was a collaborative effort involving many,” she wrote in a press release.

She said the U.S. Marshals Task Force, state Forest Rangers, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Cohoes, Saranac Lake, Lake Placid, Plattsburgh and Ticonderoga police departments; the Franklin, Essex and Clinton county sheriff’s office; the Northern Regional Response Team, and the Franklin County District Attorney’s Office all worked on the investigation.

The investigation into the homicide and the manhunt are still ongoing.

Police Benevolent Association of New York State President James McCartney said Forest Rangers are now leading a search for evidence near the area where Bechand was apprehended.

Waldin said that he can’t release certain details of the homicide investigation because Bechand faces criminal charges now and the chief does not want to jeopardize a case.

But he’s confident in a case.

“When the investigation begins, you have to look at everybody. You have to look at the family members and close friends, coworkers. When you start to talk to them and the one person you cannot find is the person who lives with her and was her intimate partner and whose vehicle was seen there at the time the incident took place and then seen leaving shortly thereafter, he moves from a person of interest to a suspect,” Waldin said. “We are convinced it was Mr. Bechand who committed this crime.”

Waldin said it was difficult being split between two crime scenes — the suburban Cohoes home where the homicide happened and the remote Gabriels intersection where his truck was discovered. But he said the many layers of law enforcement agencies had “flawless” teamwork and communication.

Waldin also thanked the community for their assistance. He believed the public attention from the Troop B press conference on Thursday was instrumental in his arrest. One of the civilians who tipped off police on Friday said they recognized him from the press conference.

Police said that Bechand’s family and close contacts were all cooperative in the investigation.

State Police Troop G Commander Chris Gilroy said “significant resources” were used.

According to Rodriguez’s obituary, she was born in Malone in 1983, grew up there and graduated from Franklin Academy High School in 2002. She worked for a brief time as a security guard at Paul Smith’s College. In 2011, she was working as a lease agent in Clifton Park.

Her death has been ruled a homicide with the cause of death being hemorrhagic shock, lacerated aorta and multiple pulmonary lacerations from multiple sharp force trauma. Cohoes Police Chief Todd Waldin said she was stabbed in the heart, but the weapon used is unclear.

Rodriguez’s mother had not heard from her, so she asked Rodriguez’s friend to check on her. The friend found her body and called the police.

Police believe the murder happened on the morning of Sept. 13. Waldin said Bechand’s truck was seen leaving the house that day. Police tracked the truck via license plate readers to the North Country. New York State Police said Bechand’s white 2024 Chevrolet Silverado was located a day later, 150 miles away in Brighton.

Waldin said the media and public’s concentration had been on Bechand and finding him, rightfully so. But he hopes that people will focus similar energy on the victim and supporting her family though their loss.

Rodriguez was born in Malone to Robert Bell and Crystal McNamara Rodriguez, according to her obituary. She had a brother, a step-father “who she admired very much and referred to as dad,” and four “fur babies” whom she loved as children.

A celebration of her life will be held in Altona from noon to 4 p.m. today in the Gold Room at the Rainbow Banquet Hall, 47 Woods Falls Road, Altona.

To read her full obituary, go to tinyurl.com/3r6f4c6f.