By Andy Ross, Special Correspondent

Two men were arrested last week and charged with murdering a 23-year-old Paige man who had previously been thought missing, according to reports from the Bastrop County Sheriff’s Office.

Last Monday, 24-year-old Dustin Eugene Dickman was arrested and charged with the murder of his former roommate, Michael Van Dyke, who is believed to have been killed by blunt force trauma to the head on Dec. 15, 2009 at the residence the two shared at 325 County Line Road in Paige, according to law enforcement reports.

On Friday, 25-year-old Dennis Leetch of San Marcos was also arrested and charged in Van Dyke’s murder.

BCSO Sgt. Ric Cole said on Friday afternoon that a piece of wood reportedly used as the weapon has been recovered but investigators are still searching for Van Dyke’s body. Search and rescue dive teams have been dispatched to several ponds in the county this week.

Van Dyke, who worked as a cook in a Paige restaurant, was reported missing by his family on Dec. 27, but had not been seen or heard from since earlier in the month, according to Cole. As more time lapsed with no word, additional information began to surface that foul play was involved, Cole said.

“We learned information from his (Van Dykes) place of employment that indicated the people he was living with were not telling the truth,” Cole said on Friday.

According to Bastrop County Sheriff Terry Pickering, Van Dyke had a history of disappearing for extended periods of time, a factor that delayed the case being suspected of involving murder until last weekend.

“We had no reason to doubt that the story we were getting was factual,” said Pickering on Thursday in reference to the missing person’s investigation.

Cole said more information is expected to come to light soon but it is believed the alleged murder occurred after an argument broke out between Dickman and Van Dyke over property missing from their home.