T-L file photo Police and emergency vehicles surround the home of Thomas and Angela Strussion on Sept. 21, 2021, after the couple and their pets were found dead inside after the house on Trails End Drive, Belmont, was set ablaze.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Andrew Isaac Griffin, former partner in the Elm Grove Salsa Joe’s restaurant, was arrested Tuesday for the 2021 murders of Thomas and Angela Strussion at their Belmont-area home.

Griffin, 32, was arrested in Hawaii and charged with two counts of aggravated homicide.

Andrew Isaac Griffin

The Strussions and their pets were found dead inside their home on Trails End Drive, off National Road outside Belmont, after a structure fire was reported there early on Sept. 21, 2021. Days later, former Belmont County Sheriff David Lucas announced that their deaths were the result of a double homicide.

Tom Strussion was 52 years old and the owner of two local Salsa Joe’s restaurants, with locations at 43920 National Road, Belmont, near his home and on Lumber Avenue in the Elm Grove section of Wheeling.

Angela Strussion was 49 years old, according to Lucas. The sheriff’s department has not released any information regarding the manner of their deaths.

Thomas Strussion and Griffin were business partners at the Elm Grove location of Salsa Joe’s restaurant, which opened in May 2021. The original Salsa Joe’s founded by Strussion operated in Arlington, Texas.

On the first anniversary of their deaths, Belmont County sheriff’s Chief Detective Ryan Allar held a press conference seeking witnesses who could provide any information about the murders. At that time, Sept. 21, 2022, he said there was no “particular person of interest” in the investigation.

In July 2023, Griffin was declared a missing person by the Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office in Oklahoma. Law enforcement in Harris County, Texas, informed the Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office in October 2023 that Andrew Griffin had been located, was safe and had been taken into custody on outstanding warrants out of LeFlore and Oklahoma County.

According to KOTV News 6 in Tusla, Oklahoma, Griffin was arrested in a Houston, Texas, airport while deboarding a plane from Honduras in 2023. At that time he was charged with kidnapping and domestic violence.

Details of his arrest Tuesday in Hawaii have not been provided.

“The arrest stems from a years-long investigation involving the Belmont County Sheriff’s Office with the assistance of various other law enforcement agencies throughout the country,” a Thursday press release from Belmont County Sheriff James Zusack states.

No court appearance for Griffin is currently scheduled in Belmont County. All court appearances will be scheduled upon his return to the Belmont County jurisdiction. He is expected to appear before Belmont County grand jury, where facts of the case will be presented and an indictment sought.