Police arrest man in California missing persons case, Reno shooting

Update: 4:32 p.m.

Brent Clifford, a person of interest in a Reno homicide and a California missing persons case, was arrested in California Wednesday, according to authorities.

About 4 p.m. today, Clifford was taken into custody in Portola, Calif. by Reno police and the Placer County Sheriff’s Office and Plumas County Sheriff’s Office on an active warrant in California, authorities said.

Clifford was being sought by RPD after a fatal shooting on Keystone Avenue in Reno. A man was found dead at a residence in the 1300 block of Keystone Avenue with a gunshot wound to the head, authorities said.

Clifford was also a person of interest in a case involving a missing Kings Beach woman: Patricia Portella-Wright, 48.

A vehicle connected to the Reno case, a 2003 red Chevrolet Blazer, was recovered by police. Portella-Wright has not been located, and police are still searching for her.

Original story Reno police on Wednesday said they were seeking a person of interest in both a missing persons case in Placer County and a homicide case on Keystone Avenue.

Brent Clifford, 55, was last seen near California State Route 70 and Hallelujah Junction, near the California-Nevada state line at U.S. 395, police said Wednesday.

At about 6 a.m. Sunday, RPD responded to the 1300 block of Keystone Avenue in Reno on a report of suspicious circumstances.

Reno police found William F. Andrews, 68, of Reno, dead at a residence and determined he had died of a gunshot wound. Andrews, who police believe was friends with Clifford, died of a gunshot wound to the head, according to the Washoe County medical examiner.

The investigation revealed Clifford fled in Andrews' red 2003 Chevrolet Blazer with the Nevada license plate PHF8942 with a square white sticker just to the right of the rear plate, police said. The SUV was last seen heading westbound on Highway 70 in California.

Clifford is also a person of interest in a California missing persons case. Police said Clifford was the last person to be seen with Patricia Portella-Wright, 48, who disappeared from the Kings Beach area in Lake Tahoe and was reported missing on Friday.

Portella-Wright is described as being 5-foot-9, with blond hair, brown eyes and weighing 125 pounds. She was last seen in Reno on Aug. 9.

Police believe she was in a relationship with Clifford and consider her to be in danger.

RPD asked anyone with information to call the non-emergency line at 775-334-2677 or call or text anonymously with tips to 775-322-4900 or at secretwitness.com . Witnesses can also contact the Placer County Sheriff's Office at 530-889-7830.

This article originally appeared on Reno Gazette Journal: Police arrest man in California missing persons case, Reno shooting