Blood found inside a car seized in the manhunt for Samuel “Sammy” K. Littleton, the murder suspect also believed to have abducted Richard Russell and his wife Gladis from their home in Logan County, left police worried about the Russells’ fate.

““We have serious concerns they (the Russells) have survived this ordeal,” said Bellefontaine Police Chief Brad K. Kunze at a news conference at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The blood was found in the passenger compartment of the Russells’ car and in the trunk, Kunze said.

“It requires more detailed forensic analysis,” he added. “Our focus remains on bringing Dick and Gladis Russell home.”

The car was found Tuesday night and Littleton was arrested Wednesday in Princeton, W.Va.

Littleton continues to be questioned by authorities, Kunze said. He has provided no information as to where the Russells might be located, he added.

West Virginia authorities arrested Littleton just before noon Wednesday in a wooded area behind a Princeton, W.Va., Walmart where police had found the car of a missing elderly Logan County couple Tuesday.

There was, however, no news about the couple, Richard and Gladis Russell.

Littleton, 37, was wanted in connection with the murder of Tiffany L. Brown, a 26-year-old Bellefontaine mother of two, and the disappearance of the Russells. Brown was the daughter of Littleton’s longtime girlfriend Deborah Neeley.

Littleton was arrested after a short foot chase after an air search by a police helicopter around 10:30 a.m.

A search team used a dog to zero in on Littleton, who was observed with a bandage on his arm being escorted to the State Police Barracks in Princeton around 1:30 p.m. The Bluefield Daily Telegraph reported he had been treated at a local hospital before being taken to the state police barracks.

A news conference has been scheduled for 4:30 p.m. by Bellefontaine Police.

Littleton is a suspect in the death of Tiffany L. Brown.

Brown had been missing for nearly a week before her partially clothed body was found concealed under a pile of wood in the basement of Littleton’s Bellefontaine home almost a day after Littleton disappeared. She had been stabbed multiple times.

Littleton bought his Bellefontaine house from the Russells.

Littleton’s arrest was announced during Wednesday’s funeral service for Brown.

The pastor told those gathered that he prayed for justice in the case, and seconds later the organist announced Littleton’s arrest. Mourners gasped and said aloud, “Amen!”

A Columbus television station, WBNS-TV, reported family members of the missing Logan County couple said authorities told them there may have been signs of foul play in the seized car. Family members declined to elaborate on the details given them by the Logan County Sheriff’s Office, the station reported.

Mike Coder, a family member of Gladis and Dick Russell, said he received a call from the Logan County Sheriff’s Office when Littleton was captured. He said family members are still optimistic that the couple will be found. Family members have been watching over the home in shifts since the couple disappeared.

Coder said family members were relieved Littleton was captured alive. “That was a big concern that he would do something to himself or there would be a shoot-out and there would be no answers then,” Coder said.

Logan County Sheriff Andrew Smith said Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation started processing the car Wednesday. The sheriff said his deputies, who traveled to in West Virginia on Tuesday, were waiting to interview Littleton.

“We’re hoping he will help us find Dick and Gladis,” Smith said.

Christine Ricketts, manager of the Homecoming Family Restaurant in Bellefontaine, said Wednesday that both the Russells and Littleton were frequent patrons.

“It’s hard with them finding him and waiting to see where they’re at. We’re hoping since they’ve found him, we can find them. Of course I’m going to remain hopeful, but I fear the worst. At least now that he has been caught, he can answer the questions that the community and the family have.”

Ricketts said the Russells are “a very nice couple” who came in regularly with the Lions Club.

She said concern has been very high from the beginning because of their health issues. She said Littleton seemed like a regular guy. “I can’t believe Deb was with him for so long with no sirens and whistles. I can’t imagine not really knowing the person you’re living with.”

The recovered car, a gray/green 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis belonging to the Russells, was found at 6:37 p.m. Tuesday at the Walmart by the West Virginia State Police.

Littleton called a relative in the Princeton area around 11 a.m. Tuesday from a gas station pay phone, a West Virginia state police sergeant said.

Littleton’s family members appeared Tuesday on local television in West Virginia, encouraging him to surrender .

Princeton, population 7,000, is located in the southern part of the state approximately 15 miles north of the Virginia state line.

Investigators with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation have suspended their search for evidence at Rumpke Sanitary Landfill. The area will remain secured, Bellefontaine police said, should new evidence emerge that continuing the search would be worthwhile. Officials spent approximately 5 hours on Monday and 7 hours Tuesday searching an acre area of the landfill looking for evidence from waste containers located at an Interstate 75 rest stop in Butler County.

The rest stop is the last place the Russells’ car was seen late on Feb. 16 parked near a dumpster. A state trooper made a routine check of the plate before the Russells were reported missing.