US Marshals have arrested the ex-boyfriend of a New Jersey kindergarten teacher who was found dead in a shallow grave this week.

Law enforcement officials said Cesar Santana was taken into custody in the Miami area and is considered a suspect in the death of 33-year-old Luz Hernandez, WNBC reports. He is currently charged with desecrating human remains and is awaiting extradition to New Jersey.

As CrimeOnline previously reported, Hernandez, a mother of three, was reported missing earlier this week when she didn’t show up for work at BelovED Community Charter School. Investigators conducted a welfare check at her Jersey City home and eventually found the body about nine miles away in Kearny.

The Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office reported earlier that autopsy results showed that Hernandez was beaten and strangled to death, WNBC reported.

No other details were immediately available.

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[Featured image: Luz Hernandez/Facebook]