Fugitives accused of killing man found in mineshaft featured on TV show

Two fugitives sought by police in connection with the killing of a New York man who retired to Las Vegas will be the subject of a true crime TV show airing this week.

“In Pursuit With John Walsh” zeroes in on accused killers Jolene Hibbs and Charles Ausiello in an episode airing Wednesday on Investigation Discovery and streaming on discovery+.

The Metropolitan Police Department has said that Hibbs and Ausiello are suspected of scamming and killing 62-year-old David Rathbun in 2017, two years after Rathbun moved to Las Vegas.

“Authorities believe that Jolene Hibbs and Charles Ausiello might not be a couple anymore but they could still be in the greater Las Vegas area,” said a statement from Warner Bros. Discovery promoting the episode.

“Jolene is 5 feet 2 inches tall and Charles is 5 feet 8 inches tall. The last time they were seen she was 120 pounds and Charles was around 180 pounds,” the statement said. “Police believe they are also drug users, so their appearances may have changed drastically.”

Rathbun, who was reported missing in the fall of 2017, was found dead in a rural Arizona mineshaft in August 2018.

Hibbs and Ausiello, who police believe swindled Rathbun’s belongings and house, haven’t been seen since.

“He was so sick of the snow in upstate New York,” Rathbun’s daughter, Natasha Rathbun-McBride, 30, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in 2020. “He just wanted to go some place where it was sunny and there were palm trees. He would say if ‘There are palm trees, then I feel like I’m on vacation.’ He went to Vegas to enjoy life.”

“In Pursuit With John Walsh” is a show that tries to solicit help from viewers in tracking down fugitives, finding missing children and solving notorious crimes. Hosted by John Walsh, who rose to fame as the host of America’s Most Wanted after the murder of his son Adam in Hollywood, Florida in the early 1980s, the show is co-hosted with his son, Callahan Walsh.

Anybody who has any information about Hibbs or Ausiello can either call the TV show’s call center at 1-833-3-PURSUE, or Metro’s homicide section at 702-828-3521. Tips can also be left at InPursuitTips.com or via Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555.

The family is also offering a $10,000 reward for information that would lead to the suspects’ arrests.

Contact Brett Clarkson at bclarkson@reviewjournal.com or 561-324-6421. Follow @BrettClarkson_ on Twitter.