Arrest made in connection with body found in Rutherford County church
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RUTHERFORD COUNTY, N.C. (WLOS) — A Rutherfordton man has been charged in the case of a woman whose body was found Thursday in Rutherford County church.
Investigators with the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office secured warrants Tuesday on Jonathan Andrew Weeks, 44, for breaking and entering a place of worship and conceal/fail to report a death.
The cause of death of Jessica Blackwell is still undetermined, pending the results of the autopsy and toxicology results.
On Thursday, Nov. 28, 2019, Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the Golden Church of the Brethren, at 1758 Cane Creek Mountain Road in Bostic, where a woman was found dead inside the church. The investigation revealed the body had been placed there from another location.
Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office investigators, with the help of the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office and agents with the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles, tried to identify the female through fingerprints and facial recognition without any success.
On Friday, Nov. 29, 2019, investigators released pictures of her tattoos, hoping someone would recognize them. Blackwell’s family did.
Investigators started receiving information Saturday about a possible suspect of who may have placed Blackwell’s body in the church.
The possible suspect was found Monday, and authorities interviewed him and searched his residence.
Weeks is in the Rutherford County Detention Center under a $10,000 secured bond.
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