CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY, N.Y. (WKBW) — Two unsolved Chautauqua County cases could finally have breaks after men connected to both were arrested out of state on separate, unrelated violent charges. The arrests involve two men linked to Corrie Anderson and Yolanda Bindics.
Bindics, a Jamestown mother of four, was last seen in 2004. A hunter found her remains in a wooded area two years later. Anderson, a mother of three, vanished in 2008. She's never been found, and her family thinks she's no longer alive.
The father of Bindics' youngest child, Clarence Carl Carte, was arrested on August 22 in Florida. Carte was charged with sexual assault with a weapon and posted $25,000 bail. Kenneth Norman Anderson, Anderson's estranged husband, was arrested on August 17 in Ohio on obstruction, kidnapping and felonious assault charges.
"Like unreal," said Anne Chmielewski, Bindics' sister. "A little bit of, yes! He got arrested."
"Not surprised," said Autumn Boardman, Anderson's sister. He was also arrested in Kentucky on kidnapping charges related to a subsequent wife in 2016.
Yolanda Bindics case
Yolanda Bindics disappeared in 2004, leaving a family desperate for answers. Her sister Chmielewski described her as someone special.
"She was a fun-loving, spunky sweetheart," she said.
The Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office announced last year that they had narrowed down the case to just one person of interest: Clarence Carte.
Chmielewski hopes this might encourage other potential victims to come forward.
"If there are other victims that were afraid to come forward," said Chmielewski. "If he goes to prison now, maybe that will give them some strength to come forward and speak out."
Corrie Anderson case
Corrie Anderson's family members want answers from her estranged husband.
"Corrie is always in the back of everyone's mind," said Boardman.
She revealed that Anderson had expressed fears about her safety before she disappeared.
"She had expressed to my mom, probably a month prior, that if anything happened to her, that it was, she said it was Ken," she said.
The connection between these two cases is more than timing. Boardman remembers talking about Bindics' case.
"I specifically remember talking to Corrie about Yolanda. How crazy it was. And then after Corey went missing," said Boardman. "I thought, wow, that I had this conversation with my sister, and here my sister goes missing. Like, who would have thought?"
WATCH: Chautauqua Co. cold cases see potential breaks after separate, unrelated arrests
Advocacy efforts
Merry Williams-Diers of WNY Missing and Unidentified Person Network has started two online petitions to ensure authorities are aware of Anderson and Carte's past histories. Williams-Diers emphasized that these remain active cases despite the passage of time.
"I hate the word cold because these cases are anything but that," Williams-Diers said. "As somebody who generates tips and leads for these cases. I can tell you they are anything but cold."
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