BARRE, Vt. (AP) – Five people – including three teenagers – have been charged in the case of a cocaine dealer who was beaten to death after he allegedly stole drugs from another man, Vermont State Police said Wednesday.

Leodor Rousseau, 33, and Joshua Darling, 21, both of Troy, N.C., have been charged with murder, kidnapping and attempted assault and robbery in the death of 34-year-old James Saunders.

Saunders’ body was found Tuesday in a shallow grave behind a house in Vershire, more than four months after he was reported missing by his girlfriend in Barre.

“It’s a tragic case, without any question,” said police Detective Brent Curtis. “The involvement of young people is very unfortunate.”

Vermont State Police say Rousseau recruited 17-year-old Melinda Pike, a 15-year-old boy and a 14-year-old boy to find Saunders and deliver him to Rousseau, and that once they did, Saunders was beaten to death. The Barre teenagers are charged with aiding in the commission of kidnapping.

All five were arrested Tuesday, after a tip from a “cooperating individual” led to the discovery of the body. No cause of death has been established, according to Capt. Thomas L’Esperance. He wouldn’t say who the individual was or what their relationship was to Saunders.

Saunders, of Barre, was a known cocaine dealer who had allegedly stolen drugs – police wouldn’t say what kind – from Rousseau, according to L’Esperance. According to the state Department of Corrections, Saunders served two months in prison for a 2003 drug arrest after pleading guilty to felony possession of heroin.

On May 10, Rousseau – a.k.a. “Kahoona” – was searching for Saunders when he offered two teenagers money to help him and they enlisted a third, according to L’Esperance. Luring him with the promise of a drug deal in which he would be the seller, they steered Saunders to Rousseau’s car, where he was beaten to death, according to L’Esperance.

“There was a plan in place that all parties involved understood what their roles were and why, in fact, Mr. Saunders was asked to get into that vehicle,” said L’Esperance.

The “cooperating individual” was identified in a 14-page police affidavit as Jonathan Whalley, a Rousseau associate who had been recruited by him to sell cocaine.

Whalley told police he saw the three teenagers get out of Rousseau’s blood-spattered car while Saunders was still inside, and that the girl had blood on her shirt.

When Whalley looked inside, he saw Saunders being held by the throat by Darling while another person was duct-taping his feet, according to the affidavit by State Police Detective Sgt. Russell F. Robinson. Whalley, who had been recruited to sell cocaine for Rousseau, followed the car to Vershire, where he saw Saunders buried.

Whalley said he kept quiet about the killing because Rousseau threatened to kill him if he told, but he finally did so because he is dying of cancer and is going through a divorce, the affidavit said. Pike and the other teenagers split $500 for their work in the kidnapping, according to the affidavit.

The body, which was identified by matching tattoos with old photographs of Saunders, was found with the help of cadaver-sniffing dogs from the Connecticut State Police.

Rousseau and Darling, who had been living in Vershire but left over the summer, were arrested in a highway stop in North Carolina late Tuesday. They were awaiting extradition hearings Wednesday to determine if and when they are returned to Vermont to face the charges.

Rousseau had firearms with him when he was arrested, and a search of his home found drugs and guns, according to L’Esperance.

Pike pleaded not guilty during a court appearance and was ordered held on $25,000 bail. The two others were released to the custody of their parents.

Police appealed for help locating Saunders’ next of kin, saying they had been unsuccessful in notifying them. His girlfriend, who originally reported him missing five days after he was last seen, has since moved to California, according to Capt. Timothy Bombardier, of the Vermont State Police.

“The fact that this crime can go undetected for an entire summer is troubling to police and should be shocking to the community,” said L’Esperance. “The culture that has developed within the drug underworld may have far reaching consequences which has the potential to impact society as a whole.”