Remains of missing woman identified. She was lured to desert by boyfriend and then he killed her, police say

Nevada authorities have identified the remains of a missing Pennsylvania woman whose body was found after a family pulled over near a desert.

The Clark County Office of the Coroner/Medical Examiner Thursday officially identified the remains of Jaime Feden, according to Lincoln County Sheriff Kerry D. Lee.

Authorities had thought a DNA test would be necessary to identify the remains that were discovered outside Las Vegas on October 5, but dental records were able to reach a positive match, Lee said.

A family traveling down Elgin Road from Caliente approached US 93 and pulled over for a bathroom break. One family member wandered away to use the bathroom in the desert area and came across the body of the woman, according to the listing in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System database before the body was identified.

A Pennsylvania man told police he zip tied his girlfriend to a signpost in the Nevada desert and suffocated her to death by duct taping her mouth and nose, according to a criminal complaint filed last week. Police say he then posed as her on social media to communicate with her family after she was dead.

John Chapman, 39, faces charges of kidnapping, obstructing administration of law, and criminal use of a communication facility in Pennsylvania, according to the complaint filed in Allegheny County.

At some point on or about September 25, Chapman convinced Feden to drive into the desert to participate in a “bondage themed photo shoot,” bound her hands and feet with zip ties, affixed her to a signpost and duct taped her mouth and nose until she died from suffocation, the complaint said. He then removed the tape, zip ties and her clothing and left her body, according to the complaint.

A preliminary hearing for Chapman was continued Thursday and rescheduled for December 5, according to court records. Bail has been denied and he remains in custody at Alleghany County Jail, records show.

CNN has not been able to identify an attorney for Chapman.

Chapman has not been charged with any crimes in Nevada, but Lee said Lincoln County sheriff’s deputies will soon travel to meet with authorities in Pennsylvania after meeting with the Lincoln County District Attorney’s Office.