2 Arrested In Murder Case After Police Identify Human Remains On Maryland Shore

Two people have been arrested in connection with the murder of a 42-year-old Maryland woman four years after the victim's remains were discovered.

William Rice, 46, and Christina Harnish, 45, were found at a homeless camp in southern Arizona and arrested Wednesday in connection with the 2017 murder of Megan Tilman, according to a statement from Anne Arundel County Police Department. The suspects are awaiting extradition back to Maryland.

Tilman was reported missing from her home in Annapolis, Maryland, in November 2017. She hadn't been heard from since Sept. 26 of that year, police said.

At the time, Tilman had been sharing a rented townhome with her mother, her boyfriend, Rice, and a roommate, Harnish, also known as Christina Stalling, WBAL reported in 2018. Tilman's mother eventually moved out, and frictions between Tilman and her family led to an apparent estrangement.

Tilman — who had two daughters, Paris and Grace, and a son, Ceci — then failed to show up in court for a child custody hearing, WMAR-TV reported in 2020. Rice and Harnish left town not long after Tilman disappeared.

Two weeks before Tilman was reported missing, human remains were found on the Maryland shore in Shady Side on Oct. 18, 2017.

The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide, according to a news release from Anne Arundel County Police.

Authorities later identified the human remains as those of Tilman using DNA samples collected from her relatives.

On Wednesday, Rice and Harnish were arrested as suspects in Tilman's murder. They were apprehended at a homeless camp by Pima County Sheriff's deputies, who learned from Anne Arundel County police that the pair was in the Tucson area, AzFamily.com reported.

Rice and Harnish are now being held in Arizona for extradition to Maryland, where they will be formally charged. Both will get the chance to enter pleas. It was not mentioned if they had legal representation.

Megan’s father, Jim Tilman, admitted that he is dealing with mixed emotions following the arrests, WMAR reported.

"There's no way to describe my emotions," he said. "It was just like a huge brick had been lifted off me."

"No one deserves what Megan went through," he added.

"We kind of knew we were getting close to an arrest, but it actually happening was pretty amazing. It's kind of [like] we're able to breathe again," said Shannon Perry, the aunt of Megan.

Both Rice and Harnish were on the radar of detectives from the beginning, Anne Arundel County Police Lt. Jacklyn Davis said.