Left: Comer McWaters (Perry County Sheriff's Office). Right: Eden Sexton (Facebook).
A Mississippi sheriff's visit to his mother ended with him disarming and arresting a man accused of killing a Georgia woman who had been missing for months.
Comer McWaters, 68, is charged with murder in the death of 49-year-old Eden Sexton in Alabama, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.
The Columbus Police Department in Georgia announced Sexton's disappearance on Feb. 27. She was last seen around 11 a.m. Feb. 22 in the 4000 block of Victory Drive.
Cops in Alabama identified McWaters as a suspect and obtained a warrant for his arrest.
On Sept. 21, the Perry County Sheriff's Office in Mississippi received a tip that a man from Alabama was living in the Buck Creek community and using an alias to avoid arrest. At this point, deputies did not know McWaters was wanted for murder. When they tried to take him into custody, he allegedly ran away and disappeared into the woods.
Later that day, Perry County Sheriff Jacob Garner was visiting his mother when he saw a man emerge from the woods and walking along a private drive.
It was McWaters.
McWaters became "extremely combative and aggressive" and was armed with two large knives, cops say.
"McWaters did not surrender easily," cops wrote in a press release. "Despite being 68 years old, McWaters was strong for his age and physically resisted Sheriff Garner. A physical struggle followed, during which Sheriff Garner was able to disarm McWaters and take him into custody."
Once McWaters was in cuffs, deputies confirmed his identity and learned he was wanted for murder in Alabama.
Cops have not said how they identified McWaters as a suspect.
Sexton's friend started a Help Find Eden Sexton Facebook page which offered additional details. The friend said Sexton had been staying at a motel at the time of her disappearance. Employees told the friend that Sexton left the motel with an older man — apparently McWaters — and was never seen again.
According to the friend, McWaters told cops that he and Sexton got into an argument while they were driving and she got out of his car.
But cops say that was not the case.
Cops allegedly found Sexton's DNA in McWaters' car and home in Little Texas, which is about 45 miles east of Montgomery.
Authorities have not detailed the relationship between McWaters and Sexton nor have they released a motive for the alleged slaying.
McWaters remains in the Perry County Jail in Mississippi.