Daytona Beach Shores police arrest Oklahoma man, person of interest in 4 homicides. What we know

An Oklahoma man sought as a person of interest in a quadruple homicide in that state was arrested Tuesday morning in a traffic stop in Daytona Beach Shores, police Chief Michael Fowler said.

A Daytona Beach Shores officer was on a traffic detail running radar in the 2800 block of South Atlantic Avenue Tuesday when a camera in the patrol car read the license plate of the Toyota Tundra driven by Joseph Kennedy II, 67, of Okmulgee, Oklahoma, Fowler said.

What we know:  Four dead friends in an Oklahoma river: What we know about the Okmulgee killings

Men's bodies found:  Okmulgee missing men's bodies found shot, dismembered in Deep Fork River, authorities say

Who is Joseph Kennedy II, and where is he now?

Authorities named Joseph Lloyd Kennedy II a person of interest in the case on Monday, Oct. 17. Police reportedly discovered evidence of a violent event while searching his salvage yard on 20th Street.

By Oct. 18, the 67-year-old man was arrested in Daytona Beach Shores, Florida, according to the Okmulgee County Sheriff's Office.

The law enforcement department said he was arrested with a vehicle that had been reported stolen back in Oklahoma. Authorities did not identify the vehicle, but did note that Kennedy's blue Chrysler PT Cruiser was discovered in Morris, just east of Okmulgee.

Okmulgee Police Chief Joe Prentice said authorities interviewed Kennedy on Oct. 14 and he denied knowing the men who were found dead.

As of Tuesday, Kennedy remained in custody at the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach, Florida. He appeared in front of a judge who ordered him to continue to be held without bail on a grand theft auto charge citing public safety in regard to the incident in Oklahoma.

"We were notified by Okmulgee police that he was a person of interest in a quadruple homicide. He is being held in the Volusia County Branch Jail on no bond," Fowler said.

What happened when four friends were found dismembered near Okmulgee, Oklahoma?

The bodies of four men, described by investigators as close friends, were found in an Oklahoma river — dismembered and with gunshot wounds — days after family reported them missing.

The men are Mark Chastain, 32, Billy Chastain, 30, Mike Sparks, 32, and Alex Stevens, 29.

Prentice said law enforcement discovered the bodies Friday, Oct. 14, after a passerby saw something "suspicious" in the water of the Deep Fork River a few miles southwest of the city of Okmulgee.

Prentice said he has investigated dozens of murders, but this case stands out.

“I’ve worked over 80 murders in my career," Prentice said. "I have worked murders involving multiple victims. I have worked dismemberments. But this case involves the highest number of victims, and it’s a very violent event.”

Investigators believe the four men planned to “commit some type of criminal act” prior to being reported missing. A witness told authorities they were invited to “hit a lick big enough for all of them,” Prentice said.

Authorities have not said whether they know what criminal act was planned or where the men allegedly planned to do it.

Authorities also issued an arrest warrant for Kennedy related to a felony sentence deferred for 10 years that he received in Okmulgee County District Court in 2013 after being convicted of an assault and battery and obstructing a law officer. Prentice said the bond on that warrant is $500,000, and that prosecutors and the Okmulgee County Sheriff's office are working to have the man returned to Oklahoma.

Four dead friends in an Oklahoma river:  What we know about the Okmulgee killings

Whose truck was Kennedy driving in Florida?

The truck Kennedy was driving had been reported stolen in Oklahoma, Daytona Beach Shores officers said.

Authorities did not identify the vehicle, but did note that Kennedy's blue Chrysler PT Cruiser was discovered in Morris, just east of Okmulgee.

"The vehicle was reported stolen in Oklahoma so the officer, assisted by others, made a high-risk traffic stop," Fowler said.

Kennedy was listed as a missing person from Oklahoma and was the only occupant of the vehicle stopped at 8:29 a.m., Fowler said.

Contributing: Patricio G. Balona, The Daytona Beach News-Journal; Nate Chute, USA TODAY Network

Grace Pateras is a digital producer for the USA TODAY Network. Follow her on Twitter at @gracepateras.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: 4 men dismembered in Oklahoma: What we know about Florida arrest