Arrest Made in Murder of Woman Who Went Missing from Fernley

The suspect in the murder of a woman who was reported missing in April and whose body was found in a remote area of Churchill County has been arrested.

Robert Matthew Richards, a 39-year-old resident of Saratoga Springs, Utah, was arrested Monday and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail, where he will remain until he is extradited to Lyon County.

The Lyon County Sheriff’s Office began investigating the disappearance of Sara Filiatraut, 25, pictured left, on April 15. Her body was found on May 22, and an autopsy performed by the Washoe County Regional Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed her death as a homicide.

Filiatraut’s family in Michigan had reported her missing, saying her last known location was in Lyon County on March 21. She was released from the Lyon County Jail on March 21 after having been arrested on charges of possession of drug paraphernalia and being an intoxicated pedestrian.

The Lyon County Sheriff’s Office said detectives identified Richards as the suspect in the murder early in their investigation. After Filiatraut’s body was found on May 22, detectives learned that Richards was working in Colorado. They traveled to Colorado and, with the assistance of the Grand County Sheriff’s Office and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, executed a search warrant and collected numerous pieces of physical evidence. Based on that evidence, an arrest warrant for Richards, charging him with one count of first-degree murder, was issued in late July.

On Monday, detectives traveled to Utah to serve the arrest warrant and took him into custody.

LCSO said the investigation spanned across Northern Nevada and into Colorado and Utah. They received assistance from the Churchill County Sheriff’s Office, Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, the Regional Human Trafficking and Exploitation Unit (HEAT), the Elko County Sheriff’s Office, the Nevada State Police Investigations Division, the Grand County (Colorado) Sheriff’s Office, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, the United States Marshals Service, the Salt Lake County (Utah) Sheriff’s Office and the Saratoga Springs (Utah) Police Department.

Anyone with information regarding the case is asked to contact the LCSO Investigations Division by email at [email protected] or by phone at 775-463-6600, referencing case number 24LY01479.

Regional Human Trafficking

Nevada ranks second for the state with the highest rates of human trafficking according to the World Population Review report, with 5.77 per 100k residents. Based on the National Human Trafficking Hotline, a US national database for human trafficking, Nevada in 2021 recorded 201 cases from 571 tips received from well-wishers, victims, and survivors.   

Of the 201 cases, 296 victims were affected by the heinous crime, with the majority of the victims being children and women. Nevada recorded 168 female victims, 25 males, and four gender minorities as victims.   

Nevada Human Trafficking Hotline: Dial #211 or Text “Bee Free” to 775-393-9183, call 1-888-373-7888, or call Regional Human Trafficking and Exploitation (HEAT) Unit joint FBI task force in Washoe County. 

For more relate articles, read:

Finding Sara - Technology Trail Through the Nevada Desert Helps Bring Murder Victim Home  by Leanna Lehman 12/10/24

Denied Bail in Filiatraut Murder Case, Richards Facing Unrelated Sexual Assault Charges by Leanna Lehman 11/27/24

Court Hearing for Murder Suspect in Filiatraut Case Set for Nov. 19 by Robert Perea 11/21/24

Murder Suspect Extradited from Utah by Robert Perea 9/23/24

Body found in Churchill County Identified as Missing Lyon County Woman by Robert Perea 5/31/24