The investigation into the disappearance of a woman in Arkansas took a macabre turn after authorities found human remains buried under a truck stationed behind a car workshop in the Trumann town.
The 56-year-old Rudy Ray has been arrested and faces charges of manipulating physical evidence and abusing a corpse, Trumann's Police Department said.
The case began as an investigation into the disappearance of Rebecca Lucille Montgomery, 44, also known as Rebecca Spray. Her family to authorities on August 14 that she had last seen her around June 30, according to Jonesboro Right Now.
The researchers subsequently obtained a court order to register a property located on North Pine Avenue, in Trumann, a small town located approximately 20 miles southeast of Jonesboro.
At the site is a car workshop that, according to the authorities, would be managed by Ray.
On August 21, the researchers carried out the property registration.
What they found led the investigation for the disappearance to a new phase. “During the registration of the property, investigators located what is believed to be human remains,” said Trumann Police Chief Doug Thomas.
The official clarified that at that time the remains could not be identified positively.
So far, authorities have not officially confirmed that they correspond to Montgomery.
The remains were sent to the Arkansas State Crime Lab, where experts will have to determine the identity of the deceased person and establish how and when he died.
Although the identity has not yet been confirmed by the authorities, residents of the area have assured local media that they believe the remains belong to Montgomery.
Neighbors interviewed by Jonesboro Right Now and WREG said the body was found buried under a truck stationed in the workshop.
One of them described the place where the researchers would have made the finding. “We were all here, next to the fence, and the policeman came and said they had found the girl. They identified her by her tattoos,” the neighbor said, according to the local media.
The man later pointed out the space between several vehicles and explained that there was the truck under which the remains were presumably buried.
According to his story, the body would have been placed inside a 50 gallon drum.
Authorities have not publicly confirmed these details nor have they yet established the identity of the remains.
Police chief Doug Thomas confirmed that Ray and Montgomeryined some kind of relationship, although he did not provide details about the nature of that bond.
The connection between the two became a central element of the research.
While specialists work to identify the remains and determine the circumstances of the death, Ray remains detained in Tennessee, where he was located the same day the Arkansas registration order was executed.
Ray was arrested by agents from the Franklin Police Department, Tennessee, after they answered a call about a suspicious person at a truck stop.
Franklin is located approximately 20 miles south of Nashville and 265 miles east of Trumann.
When officers questioned the man about his identity and why he was outside the state, they discovered his possible connection with the investigation into the disappearance of Montgomery in Arkansas.
He was initially arrested by an order for fugitive from justice.
Subsequently, Arkansas authorities filed charges of manipulation of physical evidence and abuse of body.
Ray remains imprisoned in the Williamson County prison in Tennessee, with a $1 million bail, while his extradition to Poinsett County, Arkansas, is being processed.
The identity and cause of death are still under investigation.
