Tracy Schuhmacher, and Will Cleveland

Democrat and Chronicle

Three people have been arrested in connection with the disappearance and killing of Craig Rideout of Penfield.

Rideout's body was discovered Wednesday morning in Yates County, according to Yates County Sheriff Ron Spike. The Monroe County medical examiner used dental records to confirm Rideout's identity.

Rideout's estranged wife, Laura Rideout, 45, is charged with second-degree burglary and tampering with evidence, both felonies. She was arraigned in Penfield Town Court and bailed out of the Monroe County Jail on Friday.

Two of their sons, Alexander Rideout, 19, and Colin Rideout, 22, have also been charged with evidence tampering, also a felony.

The brothers were arraigned in Mendon Town Court Thursday and remanded to the Monroe County Jail in lieu of $25,000 cash bail or $50,000 bond.

No one has been charged with murder, according to Monroe County Sheriff Patrick O'Flynn, and authorities are still looking for Craig Rideout's gray 2010 Honda Odyssey minivan with the New York license plate CTR-2094. Spike said authorities believe the homicide occurred in the overnight hours of Tuesday into Wednesday.

"We're confident we will be able to link all the pieces and bring justice to this," O'Flynn said.

Laura Rideout allegedly entered her estranged husband's townhouse at 135 New Wickham Drive in Penfield and concealed, altered and/or destroyed blood evidence with cleaning solvents. "We recovered quite a bit of evidence from that scene," O'Flynn said.

Laura Rideout filed for a divorce in November 2014; the divorce is not final. Laura and Craig Rideout have seven children. One lives in North Carolina and the other four are staying with family members in the area. Laura, Colin and Alexander Rideout live together at 10 Mildenhall Ridge in Perinton.

The brothers allegedly "assisted in the cleanup of blood and other physical evidence" at the crime scene, using "solvents, gloves, and acid based drain cleaner," according to the felony complaint.

They allegedly took a bag with cleaning solvents, gloves and drain cleaner to the Devil's Bathtub Pond at Mendon Ponds Park and threw the bag into the water in an attempt to prevent the items from being found by law enforcement. The brothers were taken into custody at the park "as they were in the act of discarding items into a pond," Spike said.

The park was closed for six hours Thursday afternoon as evidence was sought. O'Flynn said they received information from a witness that led them to the park.

Attorney Michael DiPrima, who is representing Laura Rideout, declined to comment as he escorted her from the Monroe County Jail.

According to deputies, 50-year-old Craig Rideout was last seen at his Penfield apartment about 11 p.m. on Tuesday. O'Flynn said deputies responded to the New Wickham Drive townhouse for the report of a missing person on Wednesday.

In court paperwork, Craig Rideout's sister, Robbyn Drew, said she discovered Laura Rideout in her brother's townhouse around 1 p.m. on Wednesday. Drew had been trying to contact her brother over the past 24 hours.

"Laura waved at me and waved over toward me, letting me into the (back) door," Drew said in the court paperwork. "Laura said, 'I figured it wouldn't be long until someone came looking for him. I have no idea where he is.'

"I found Laura's behavior odd. I also found it odd that Laura was in Craig's house at all. She had no business being there," according to Drew.

Drew said Laura Rideout told her she was at the townhouse after receiving a text message from her 12-year-old son, who was at the townhouse watching her younger daughter. Laura Rideout told Drew she missed the two kids by 10 minutes after Colin Rideout had already picked them up.

Laura Rideout allegedly left the townhouse with "a white plastic garbage bag, her purse, and a flat unfolded black garbage bag," according to Drew. Drew said she found Craig Rideout's second-floor bedroom door locked, which she thought was unusual. After Laura Rideout left, Drew called 911.

A farmer discovered the body of a white male in a wooded area around 8 a.m. on Wednesday along Adams Road in the town of Jerusalem, near Penn Yan, Yates County. Spike said the body was 50 feet off the road, was wrapped in a tarp, and a shovel was nearby.

A corrosive acid had been poured over the body's face, he said. Spike said the corrosive chemical was poured on the body at the Adams Road scene.

"There was some disfiguring of the body," O'Flynn said.

Link between Yates County body, missing Penfield man?

Spike said a forensic autopsy showed the cause of death was asphyxiation due to strangulation. There was also blunt force and blunt trauma to the head.

He also noted that witnesses saw two vehicles at the Adams Road scene around 5 a.m. "We are certain that (the missing Honda Odyssey) is one of the vehicles that was at the Adams Road crime scene," Spike said.

Authorities towed a gray Chrysler car from Mendon Ponds Park late Thursday afternoon. O'Flynn said he believes the Chrysler was used to take evidence, including some from the Penfield townhouse, to be disposed of at the park.

"There is evidence that some of the items in Mendon Ponds, we can link to the actual scene down in Yates County," Spike said.

If, and when, murder charges are filed, O'Flynn said, there will be coordination between state police, both sheriff's offices, and district attorneys in both counties.

Monroe County Undersheriff Drew Forsythe said there is quite a bit of forensic analysis that still needs to be done on cellphones and computers. "We certainly believe there is a connection with the people we have in custody with regards to the homicide," Forsythe said. "It just takes time."

Forsythe said that Craig Rideout doesn't have any criminal history. O'Flynn added that police are potentially looking at other suspects.

Includes reporting by staff writer Steve Orr.

TRACYS@Gannett.com

WCLEVELAND@Gannett.com

Police mum on Mendon Ponds Park investigation