A man convicted of murder in the 2008 disappearance of a Tucson Sunday school teacher was sentenced to life in prison Monday.

Luis Vargas was convicted in August of first-degree murder, burglary, kidnapping, arson, vehicle theft, and credit card theft. The charges stemmed from the disappearance of 62-year-old Kay Read, who lived on Tucsonโ€™s east side and taught Sunday school at St. Paulโ€™s United Methodist Church.

Police searched for Read, who used crutches and leg braces due to childhood polio, but never found her body. Police found Readโ€™s van on fire in a parking lot two miles from her home on the 7300 block of East Marigold Circle near Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.

Vargas was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole on the murder charge; 13.25 years for burglary in the second degree;13.25 years for vehicle theft; 12 years for arson; 7.75 years for kidnapping; and seven years for theft of a credit card.

Read opened the door of her house to Vargas when he asked for help, but Vargas โ€œoverwhelmedโ€ her, a prosecutor said after the August conviction. Vargas previously spent more than seven years in prison on two unrelated burglary charges.

Read went missing from her home on the cityโ€™s southeast side on Feb. 15, 2008.


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Contact Curt Prendergast at 573-4224 or cprendergast@tucson.com. On Twitter @CurtTucsonStar.