Missing Florida Priest Found Dead in Georgia, Suspect Now in Police Custody

A priest in Florida who was reported missing for over a week has been discovered dead in Georgia. The said Catholic priest disappeared last week and his remains were found on Monday.

Father Rene Robert, a priest in St. Augustine, was confirmed to be dead as his dead body was recovered in Georgia, according to CBS News. "It was obvious that he was the victim of homicidal violence," St. Johns County Sheriff David Shoar said on a Monday press conference.

According to the investigation, the priest was last seen on the 10^th of April, Sunday when he went to Orange Park Medical Center to pay a visit on a patient. Shoar, who considers Robert as a good friend, became emotional as he called the homicide investigation of the priest the "most intense" in his police career.

The Daily News reported that Robert's remains were discovered in Waynesboro on Monday, 300 miles away from the place he went missing in St. Augustine, Florida. A wide scale search was carried out to locate the whereabouts of the 71-year-old priest. A man named Steven James Murray, who was the police's "person of interest" was arrested after he was seen driving the priest's car. He later on led  the authorities  to the location of Robert's body.

Murray, 28 years old, was initially charged for fleeing from a law enforcer after a high-speed chase in Aiken, S.C.  He is expected to be charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping. He was previously jailed for a suspended license, but got out of prison, four days before the St. Augustine-based priest's disappearance.

The priest, known for helping incarcerated people, has been helping Murray. The suspect was booked in Burke County Jail, and it was reported that he was transported to the GBI in Thomson for questioning, according to News12 WRDW.

Father Robert, who was originally from Waterford in upstate New York, was deeply mourned by his friends and family. The popular priest have worked at a school for the blind and also assisted the homeless in North Florida.

Tags

Missing Priest, Florida Priest, Father Rene Robert, St. Augustine priest, Steven James Murray, Murder, Georgia

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