Sydney Sutherland's killer struck her with a pickup while she was jogging along a rural road and later raped her and buried her near a rural highway outside Newport, according to recently filed court documents.
The suspect, Quake Lewellyn, 28, is awaiting trial on charges of capital murder, rape, kidnapping and abuse of a corpse. He remains jailed without bail, and he is scheduled to be arraigned Oct. 29.
The news of Sutherland's Aug. 19 disappearance was widespread. A community search party was assembled to look for her.
Two days later, authorities in Jackson County announced they had discovered Sutherland's body in a deserted field and had arrested Lewellyn.
An Arkansas State Police investigator stated in a probable cause affidavit that Lewellyn saw Sutherland jogging on Jackson County Road 41 South, more than a mile from her home.
During his interview with police, Lewellyn admitted to ramming Sutherland with his pickup, loading her into the vehicle and driving her to a remote location, according to the affidavit. Police said that's where Lewellyn raped her and buried her.
Sutherland's phone was found 2.3 miles from where her body was discovered, police said. Lewellyn's phone was seized, and that's how investigators discovered he had been in the vicinity of where the victim's body was buried, according to the affidavit.