Significant Development in 1983 Cold Case

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

I am pleased to announce a significant development in one of the cold case files (The 1983 Cold Case Homicide of Wanda Isbell) recently re-opened by the Hot Spring County Sheriff's Office.

Wanda Lee May Isbell was reported missing on May 13th, 1983, to the Sherwood Police Department. At the time of her disappearance, she was last seen in Hot Springs. In January 1985, Isbell's body was located in Hot Spring County near the Jones Mill area.

Wanda Isbell's case was re-opened in October 2025 following the re-opening of six unsolved missing persons cases. Over the following months, investigators gathered and reviewed extensive records from the Arkansas State Police, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Hot Springs Police Department, Sherwood Police Department, the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory, and various agencies in the state of Mississippi, in addition to archived records maintained by the Hot Spring County Sheriff's Office. All files and information were compiled and digitized into the agency's server.

After months of investigation and follow-up interviews, including a former investigator previously employed at the Hot Spring County Sheriff's Office, an arrest warrant was obtained on February 25th, 2026 for Ronnie Lee Swann for the charge of Capital Murder.

On February 26th, 2026, myself, Captain Kirk McClenahan, and Deputy Prosecutor Jared Davis traveled to the Rankin County Sheriff's Office in Mississippi to obtain assistance in securing a search warrant for a DNA sample from Swann. We then traveled to the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility, where we met with Swann and served both the search warrant for a DNA sample and the arrest warrant for Capital Murder.

The Hot Spring County Sheriff's Office is currently in the process of extraditing Swann to the State of Arkansas. Records related to this case were sealed until Swann could be personally served with the arrest warrant.

I, Sheriff Richard Tolleson, extend my sincere appreciation to all agencies and individuals who assisted in this investigation and helped bring long-awaited progress and resolution to the family of Wanda Lee May Isbell.

We would also like to remind the public that all other cold case files remain under active investigation. Anyone with information related to these cases is encouraged to contact the Hot Spring County Sheriff's Office.

Sheriff Richard Tolleson

Hot Spring County Sheriff's Office