Murder victim's boyfriend arrested

Police have arrested the boyfriend of a Barre woman found murdered last week in Middlesex.

Randal Gebo, 61, of Barre was arrested in Downers Grove, Ill. by Illinois State Police following a traffic stop. Gebo was driving Cook's 2009 Mini Cooper Clubman.

Gebo has not been charged in the death of Cindy Cook, 59; he’s charged with aggravated vehicle operation without owner consent and fraudulent use of a credit card and possession of a credit card issued to another.

Police say they traced Gebo’s travels from Vermont to Arkansas, as he used Cook’s debit card to withdraw cash and buy gasoline, and video surveillance showed Gebo driving Cook’s vehicle.

Gebo was scheduled to appear in federal court in Illinois today, July 20.

Cook’s body was found Wednesday, July 12, on Brook Road in Middlesex. Family members said they hadn’t heard from her since July 3.

Police issued an update in the case Tuesday, saying they want to talk with anyone who was at the Shady Rill picnic area near the Wrightsville Reservoir off Route 12 in Middlesex between July 3 and 6. Anyone with information is asked to call Vermont State Police at 802-229-9191.

According to a state police affidavit, Cook’s body was found over an embankment on Brook Road on July 12. An autopsy revealed she’d been killed, but the method was not disclosed.

When police went to Gebo’s home, a friend said he had left his dog with her on July 5 and was going to Boston for cancer treatment.

However, police traced six withdrawals from Cook’s bank account between July 6 and July 15 in Montpelier, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Tennessee and Arkansas. Police said they have information that Gebo was in Perry, Okla., on July 15 and Buffalo, Wyo., on July 16.

Gebo was convicted of armed robbery in 1986, police said.

Editor's note: This story appeared in print July 20, and the online version has been updated to reflect new information.