MELBOURNE, Fla. — Police in Vero Beach said Wednesday that murder charges would be filed against the boyfriend of a missing woman whose body was found inside the trunk of her car at a Publix parking lot in Melbourne on Monday.
Diane Duve, 26, was last seen Friday morning leaving the What-A-Tavern restaurant in Vero Beach, but authorities found her body in the vehicle on South Babcock Street.
Duve's boyfriend, Michael Jones, 31, was arrested Monday on a violation of probation charge in Ft. Pierce. On Wednesday, murder charges were filed against him.
Police Chief David Currey said an autopsy showed Duve was strangled to death.
Authorities said it appears the car Duve was found in had been at the lot since Saturday. An officer on patrol spotted the Nissan Altima after Vero Beach Police put out an alert.
Jones has a criminal history, and police records describe him as a violent felony offender who was on probation at the time of Duve's disappearance.
One of the conditions of that probation is that Jones not leave Indian River County, but Vero Beach Police said phone records show Jones did just that.
Authorities said those phone records suggest Jones was in Brevard County close to where Duve's car was found on Monday.