Man accused of killing ex-girlfriend, hiding body in car heads back to Lorain Co.

UPDATE@4:29 p.m.

A Darke County judge set a $1 million bond today for Roy Owens Jr., who is suspected of slaying his ex-girlfriend and hiding her body in the trunk of a Buick LeSabre.

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The Elyria Police Department filed an aggravated murder charge Thursday against Owens, who will be extradited to Lorain County, court officials said. Owens agreed to return to Elyria by waiving an extradition hearing.

UPDATE@3:32 p.m. (July 20)

Owens was scheduled to appear around 4 p.m. today in Darke County Common Pleas Court. We’ll have a reporter in the courtroom who will bring you the  latest development in the case.

UPDATE @ 11 p.m. (July 19)

Police detectives from Elyria arrived in Darke County this evening to question Roy Owens Jr., the suspect in the disappearance of Linnea Satterfield. Authorities believe a woman’s body found in Owens’ trunk is that of Satterfield, who is Owens’ estranged girlfriend reported missing Monday by her family.

Owens and Satterfield are from Elyria, a Lorain County city in suburban Cleveland.

UPDATE @ 10:25 p.m.

A background check of Roy Owens Jr., 56, the suspect in the disappearance and possible death of his estranged girlfriend, Linnea Satterfield, shows four misdemeanor convictions in Lorain County.

Owens, of Elyria, was found guilty in 2002 for domestic violence and disorderly conduct; and in 2000 for carrying a concealed weapon and improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle. Also in 2000, a felony charge of possessing criminal tools was dismissed.

UPDATE @ 6:20 p.m.

Darke County deputies responding to a report of an erratic driver around 1 p.m. learned ahead of time the vehicle was connected to a northern Ohio crime thanks to witnesses providing a license plate number, Chief Deputy Mark Whittaker said.

“Meantime the car crashed. The car drove off the right side of the road and struck a utility pole, snapped the utility pole; it landed on top of the vehicle,” Whittaker said of the car responding deputies found in a ditch in the 8000 block of Ohio 49 near Greenville, north of Dayton.

Roy Owens Jr. was taken into custody without incident and was taken to a local hospital for evaluation before he was booked into the Darke County Jail on felonious assault and domestic violence charges. Elyria police signed an arrest warrant for aggravated murder today against Owens, Elyria police Capt. Chris Constantino said.

When deputies searched Owens’ 2001 Buick LeSabre, “we discovered what appears to be an adult female deceased subject in the trunk of his vehicle,” Whittaker said. The cause and manner of death will be determined by the Darke County coroner, he said.

Before Owens was arrested -- Constantino said Owens was only wearing socks and underwear -- witnesses said he at first appeared to be running away and that he had a knife and made statements that he would harm himself, Whittaker said. When deputies responded, Owens was near his car, did not have any weapons and complied with deputies’ orders.

Elyria police detectives are on the way to Darke County, and the sheriff’s office will work closely with them and provide whatever assistance is needed, the chief deputy said.

UPDATE @ 5:15 p.m.

A suspect in a woman’s disappearance who crashed his car into a ditch this afternoon near Greenville was arrested around 1:30 p.m. without incident, according to the Darke County Sheriff’s Office.

When deputies searched the car of Roy Owens Jr., 56, they found a deceased woman in the trunk. The body was believed to be that of 56-year-old Linnea Satterfield, who was reported missing on Monday from Elyria in suburban Cleveland.

Blood and a sign of a struggle was evident Monday when Elyria police officers checked Satterfield’s home after her sister reported her missing. Officers found her vehicle in the driveway of her Eastern Heights Boulevard home, her purse inside the house and her cellphone stuck in a neighbor’s dryer vent, Elyria police Capt. Chris Constantino said.

Police also checked the home at 128 Charles Court she shared for about 20 years with Owens, her estranged boyfriend, but neither were there. Satterfield was believed to be held against her will or worse. A warrant was issued for Owens’ arrest on felonious assault and domestic violence charges, and a nationwide alert was issued, Constantino said.

CBS affiliate Cleveland19.com WOIO reported that Charles Court neighbors said Owens and Satterfield had a lot of arguments, some “really bad.”

Credit: Cleveland19.com

Credit: Cleveland19.com

UPDATE @ 4:25 p.m

Roy Owens Jr., who was wanted for a possible kidnapping, was arrested in Greenville near Ohio 49 at around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, said Capt. Chris Costantino of the Elyria Police Department.

Darke County authorities then searched Owens’ trunk and found a deceased woman they believe to be Linnea Satterfield of Elyria.

Elyria Police issued an alert for Linnea Satterfield on July 17, 2017, when her friends and family could not get in contact with her.

Police advise Satterfield had recently broken up with her boyfriend Roy Owens Jr. and had moved into her own residence.

UPDATE @ 4:05 p.m.

A body has been found inside of a trunk in Darke County. The vehicle has been the focus of an investigation this afternoon on Ohio 49 North.

A suspect is in custody without further incident.

EARLIER REPORT

We’re working to learn more about an investigation reported on Ohio 49 west of Ansonia in Darke County.

Callers into this newsroom report Ohio 49 is blocked in both directions in the area of Hathaway Road for an apparent investigation involving the Darke County Sheriff’s Office.

Scanner traffic indicates deputies responded to the area around 1:30 p.m. on a report of a suspicious man in the area.

Dispatchers for the Darke County Sheriff’s Office said there was a crash reported in the area, but declined to comment further on the incident.

We’ll update this page as we learn more.

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