Police are searching for Anthony G. Bechand as a person of interest in an ongoing homicide investigation. Bechand's vehicle was located on Sunday in Brighton.

BRIGHTON — As the manhunt for a homicide suspect in the Brighton-Paul Smiths area stretched into its third day on Tuesday, police put out an appeal to the public for more information on his possible location or sightings.

Multiple local, state and federal agencies have been searching the woods around the region with helicopters, bloodhounds, drones and officers. But so far, their search has come up empty.

The suspect, Anthony G. Bechand, 53, was the live-in boyfriend of Amanda Margaret “Mandee” Rodriguez, 41, whose body was found by police in their Cohoes home on Sunday morning.

Cohoes Police Chief Todd Waldin said Bechand has ties to this area, but those details are currently unknown.

“It’s a possibility he lived there previously, but I’m not certain,” Waldin said.

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.

Waldin said 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. He said she was stabbed in the heart, but the weapon used is unclear.

Police believe the murder happened Saturday morning. 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 later that day, 150 miles away, at the intersection of county Route 60 and state Route 86 in Brighton.

Police said anyone who may have seen Bechand or someone matching his description in the Ray Brook area or surrounding locations starting on Saturday, Sept. 13 at approximately 12:26 p.m. are asked to call the State Police tip line at 518-897-2000 or the Cohoes Police Department at 518-233-2146.

“Please DO NOT attempt to approach or contact Anthony Bechand,” Cohoes police said in a statement.

Bechand is described as a white man, 5’11”, 180 pounds with hazel eyes and brown hair. Police say he may be armed and dangerous. His clothing is unknown.

Bechand’s white truck, which has a dent in the top left side of the tailgate, was towed from where it was found by Monday morning.

Local resident Bonnie Myatt said she saw a man exiting a truck matching that description at around 9:20 p.m. Friday night. She said she didn’t see his face, but that he was an older man, balding, wearing white pants, a white t-shirt and a thin, blue, faded flannel.

She thought he was dropping off empties at the bottle and can drop-off shack where he was parked, but thought it was odd to do that so late at night. She said she didn’t think much of it until she saw the police presence on Sunday evening.

On the night she saw the man, she said another truck was parked in the Brighton Town Park lot across the street, in the shadows outside of the ring of light from floodlamps.

This truck had a ladder rack, non-reflective hubcaps and was carrying a “heck of a load,” she said. She thought it was foolish to leave such a heavy load overnight, since it messes with the truck’s springs.

This eyewitness report doesn’t line up with the official timeline from law enforcement, but there are still many unknowns in the case, which is still under investigation.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation forest rangers, officers with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the New York State Police Major Crimes team and the Forensic Identification Unit are assisting with the ongoing search. If Bechand attempts to cross the border into Canada in an unmanned area, Cohoes Mayor Bill Keeler, a retired state trooper, said there are sensors on the border to detect movement and notify law enforcement.

“The forest rangers of Region 5 are the most knowledgeable individuals in the world regarding the challenging hills and mountainous terrain of these wilderness areas,” Police Benevolent Association of New York State President James McCartney said in a statement. “Rangers have assisted with coordination of search grids in and around the town of Brighton and are contributing to their on-the-ground experience, knowledge of search theory and incident command structure training.

“Brighton is located in the heart of DEC Region 5 and is at the intersection of numerous DEC-protected wilderness areas within Adirondack Park,” he added, “including Debar Mountain Wild Forest, Saranac Lakes Wild Forest, the Paul Smiths College Conservation Easement and the Kushaqua Conservation Easement, as well as numerous hiking, biking and horse trails, boat and canoe launches, campsites and lean-tos.”

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.

Keeler said 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 police, Keeler said.

A celebration of her life will be held in Altona on Sept. 27, from noon to 4 p.m. in the Gold Room at the Rainbow Banquet Hall, 47 Woods Falls Road, Altona.

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