Authorities in Tennessee have arrested the ex-husband of a missing woman after a body was found, WMC-TV reports.
Around 5 p.m. Friday, the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office received a phone call from someone stating that Kevin Watson wanted to turn himself in. Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the caller’s address in Tipton County, where they arrested Watson on a warrant for first-degree murder.
Hours later, around 8:30 p.m., Haywood County Sheriff Billy Garrett Jr. confirmed that a body was located near Watson’s address.
“Kevin Watson has been located and he is now in custody at the Haywood County jail on a First Degree Murder warrant for the death of his former wife, Britney Watson,” Garrett later wrote in a Facebook post.
Investigators have not yet identified the body, which will be examined by the coroner in an autopsy.
Watson had been a suspect in the disappearance of Britney Watson and was the subject of an arrest warrant issued Wednesday, as CrimeOnline previously reported.
The developments come days after crews conducted extensive searches for Britney, including searches aided by the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. Authorities are suspending further search efforts pending the outcome of the autopsy.
Britney, a mother of two, was last seen between noon and 1 pm. on January 7 wearing jeans and a gray hoodie.
Last weekend, police located a truck believed to belong to Kevin Watson near a wildlife area. At the time, police believed that he might have been armed and suicidal based on a note left inside the truck.
Watson is being held without bond in the Haywood County Jail.
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[Featured image: Britney Anderson Watson, left/Facebook and Kevin Watson/Haywood County Sheriff’s Office]