Marrero, La. - The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's deputies arrested 23-year-old Jonathan Beal and booked him as a fugitive from Pennsylvania for murder.
JPSO worked with agents from the U.S. Marshal's Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force on a tip that Beal was staying at a friend's home in Marrero.
WPXI-TV in Pennsylvania reports Beal is accused of strangling a Somerset County girl to death and burying her body in a shallow grave along the Great Allegheny Passage.
Investigators found the remains of 19-year-old Justine Jackson on Sunday. Jefferson Parish Sheriff's officials say Jackson was Beal's former girlfriend and had been missing since September 14, 2012.
"Through dental records, we were able to determine that this was the missing girl we were looking for," Pennsylvania State Trooper Steve Limani said.
WPXI-TV spoke to a friend of Beal's who said, "he came to my house and told me that Justine Jackson stole stuff off of him and for that, she had to pay severe consequences."
The TV station reports Beal, pending extradition, faces criminal homicide, abuse of a corpse and aggravated assault charges.
Jonathan Beal (Photo provided by: JPSO)
