Craig Arno, 44, of Atlantic City, and Jessica Kisby, 24, of Egg Harbor Township, appeared briefly in court Wednesday morning to plead not guilty to kidnapping and carjacking charges.
But Atlantic County Prosecutor Theodore Housel said upgraded charges will be filed soon.
The suspects' court appearance did little to clear up the mystery surrounding the disappearance and suspected death of Martin Caballero, 47, of North Bergen. Housel said he is sure the remains found in a field in Hamilton Township are those of Caballero, but is awaiting DNA tests from samples obtained from when Caballero served in the military when he was younger.
"If that is confirmed, we will move forward," he said.
The prosecutor said an autopsy has determined the cause of death of the man believed to be Caballero, but he would not reveal it.
He also would not say whether Caballero and the two suspects knew each other before their encounter in the casino parking garage on May 21.
The suspects were arrested May 28 at the Golden Key Motel in Egg Harbor Township just outside Atlantic City. The bodies of four murdered prostitutes were discovered behind the same motel in a drainage ditch 3½ years ago. The case is still unsolved.
Caballero, who managed a grocery store in northern New Jersey, had just dropped his wife and daughters off at the Taj Mahal entrance while he went to park the car. They headed to the casino to celebrate his daughter Jessica's 22nd birthday, but he never returned from the garage.
Surveillance video from the garage shows Kisby and Arno approaching his vehicle in a silver Toyota, getting out and engaging in a physical fight with him. The three eventually left the garage in two cars, including Caballero's white Lincoln MKS, Housel said.
Authorities said Kisby and Arno drove Caballero's car to the Inlet section of Atlantic City, and later traveled on the Atlantic City Expressway, getting off at Exit 12 in Hamilton Township, about 30 minutes west of Atlantic City.
Remains believed to be those of Caballero were found on a farm early Sunday.
His vehicle was found torched in Camden County.
Arno's face was red and appeared to be scorched when he appeared in court Wednesday morning, his right hand heavily bandaged. Hair from both sides of his head appeared to be freshly shaven off.
Housel previously said the two cars got off the expressway at Exit 5 in Pleasantville, where a Bic lighter and $5 worth of gas were bought at a Wawa convenience store. A woman from one of the cars borrowed a gasoline container at a gas station, the prosecutor said.
A surveillance camera at a nearby bank shows a man identified by authorities as Arno making a withdrawal from an automated teller machine using Caballero's card.
The prosecutor revealed that Arno also was charged with armed robbery, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and aggravated assault stemming from a May 24 robbery at a department store in Pleasantville. He would not say whether the robbery, in which a knife was used, was related to the Caballero case.
Steven Scheffler, Kisby's lawyer, said she has not yet offered him her version of what occurred.
"Obviously she's upset by these charges," he said. "There's absolutely more to this case than what we're being told. I'd wait for the whole story to be written."
Neither suspect spoke in court other than to confirm their identities. Arno's public defender left the courtroom without speaking to reporters.
