Ex-boyfriend arrested after model's body found near highway
A note found in 47-year-old’s jacket pocket let t
(TheCinema Couch / YouTube)A Texas man has been arrested for the murder of a model whose body was found near an interstate highway at the weekend, authorities have said.
Officers arrested Tracy Ray Rollins Jr, a 28-year-old truck driver and allegedly the former boyfriend of fashion model Rebecca Landrith, in Connecticut on Wednesday, PennLive reported.
An arrest affidavit seen by PennLive said officers charged Rollins Jr, from Dallas, Texas, with homicide and abuse of a corpse.
The body of the 47-year-old was found by a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation employee on Sunday morning by an interstate interchange, headed eastbound.
18 gunshot wounds were found on her head, neck and throat, according to the arrest affidavit.
Landrith worked in New York City as a fashion model, and was a finalist for beauty contests including “Miss Manhattan” and “America’s It Girl Miss Lady Liberty”, according to her own website.
County District Attorney D. Peter Johnson said “It took old-fashioned police work” to carry out the arrest, which came after officers found a note with Rollins Jr’s name and contact details in Landrith’s jacket pocket, PennLive reported.
Officers reportedly used the information to trace Rollins Jr’s travel between Wisconsin and Maine on Saturday, before travelling on to Connecticut on Wednesday, when he was arrested.
According to the arrest affidavit, he claimed to have not known Landrith, and had been travelling with a woman named “Leslie” who he met at a truck stop in Connecticut.
PennLive reported that Landrith had previously made hotel reservations with the name “Leslie”.
The model’s brother, George Landrith, told PennLive that her family were “relieved”, although “It doesn’t ease the sense of loss.”
“Her family loved her dearly,” he added. “None of this brings her back. It is important she receives justice.”
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