Inset: Rudy Ray (Williamson County Jail). Background: An auto shop in Trumann, Ark. (Google Maps).
An Arkansas man is behind bars after a dead body was found buried underneath a van parked behind his auto shop, Natural State law enforcement says.
Rudy Ray, 56, stands accused of tampering with physical evidence and abuse of a corpse, according to the Trumann Police Department.
The charges stem from what began as a missing person investigation into 44-year-old Rebecca Lucille Montgomery, who is also known as Rebecca Spray, police said.
The missing person investigation began on Aug. 14, when Montgomery's family reported they had last seen her around June 30, according to a report by Jonesboro Right Now.
Investigators subsequently obtained a search warrant for a property on North Pine Avenue in Trumann, a small town located roughly 20 miles southeast of Jonesboro. The property is an auto shop authorities allege is run by Ray.
On Aug. 21, investigators made a macabre discovery.
"During the search of the property, investigators located what are believed to be human remains," Trumann Police Chief Doug Thomas said at the time. "At this time, the remains cannot be positively identified."
As of this writing, the human remains have yet to be identified.
The remains are currently being assessed by the Arkansas State Crime Lab. There, medical examiners will work to confirm the identity as well as determine how and when the person died.
Neighbors, however, told local media they believe the remains belong to the missing woman, according to Jonesboro Right Now and Memphis, Tennessee-based CBS affiliate WREG.
Neighbors also reportedly told the TV station that the body was found buried beneath a van parked at the auto shop.
"We were all sitting over here by the fence and the cop came over and said they had found the girl. They identified her by her tattoos," one neighbor said. "That empty spot between those cars is where they found her. That black van is parked over this way. He had buried her under it. In a 50-gallon drum."
Ray and the missing woman were in some sort of relationship, Thomas said.
The same day the search warrant was executed, the defendant was arrested in Tennessee by the Franklin Police Department after officers responded to a report about a suspicious person at a truck stop, Volunteer State law enforcement says. Franklin is located roughly 20 miles south of Nashville — and some 265 miles east of Trumann.
As officers questioned Ray about his identity and his reason for being out of state, they learned about his connection to the missing person case in Arkansas, police said. He was initially taken into custody on a fugitive-from-justice warrant.
The defendant is currently detained in the Williamson County Jail on a $1 million bond pending extradition to Poinsett County, Arkansas.
Additional charges could be forthcoming, authorities said.
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