A Tennessee man was taken into custody Tuesday, hours after his slain girlfriend’s body was discovered in a truck bed.
Knoxville authorities said someone called 911 Monday afternoon to report that a man “gravely injured” his girlfriend at a Mercer Street home.
Officers did not find the man, identified as Juan Carlos Diaz Perez, or his 18-year-old girlfriend Suceli Perez inside the home.
However, evidence of a potentially deadly assault was found at the scene, police said.
Detectives learned that Diaz Perez left the home in a pickup truck and started looking for the vehicle before locating it at an Oak Ridge park.
Officers found the victim’s body in the truck’s bed and launched a manhunt for the suspect.
U.S. Marshal Service found Diaz Perez the following day near the quarry in Oak Ridge and arrested him.
He has been transported back to Knoxville where he will face first-degree murder charges.
