TUCSON — Rexford Lynn Keel Jr., 57, was arrested in Tucson Sunday by Arizona Public Safety officers in connection with the death of his wife, Diana Alejandra Keel, a 38-year-old mother of two children.
Diana Keel went missing on Saturday, March 9. She went missing from the same address in Nashville, N.C ., at which Rexford Keel’s first wife died in 2006.
Rexford Keel fled North Carolina in a pickup truck, launching a manhunt, said a statement from the Nash County Sheriff’s Office.
Diana Keel was reported missing at about 7:36 P.M. March 9 , from her home on the 200 block of Old County Home Road, Nashville. She was last seen by her husband the previous day, he told police.
Her employer told police she had not reported to work in the last few days. Her vehicle was still parked at the residence.
North Carolina Department of Transportation employees located the body of Diana Keel on Tuesday, outside the town of Leggett, about 20 miles from Nashville.
Rexford Keel has been charged with first-degree murder, said a news report from ABC11, a North Carolina station.
Diana’s family reported that her marriage was not working out, she wanted a divorce, and that Keel had threatened her.
Detectives followed-up on an incident which occurred on Jan. 1, 2006, involving Keel and his former wife, Elizabeth Edward Keel. The 2006 incident was also reported to have occurred at the same residence.
The 2006 incident was classified as a death investigation. However, the medical examiner declared her death as accidental, based on blunt trauma to the head from falling and striking her forehead on the corner of the Keel’s front concrete steps of their home.
Nash County Sheriff’s Office detectives continue to conduct an investigation into the death of Diana Keel.