Diana Keel Update: Missing Nashville Woman's Husband Arrested On Murder Charges

A North Carolina man wanted on a first-degree murder warrant in connection with the killing of his wife Diana Alejandra Keel was arrested Sunday in Arizona. Officials said they took Rexford Lynn Keel, 57, into custody just 34 miles from the Mexico border following a traffic stop on Interstate 10 near Tucson.

The Nash County Sheriff's Office said in a statement that Rexford had many bank receipts "and a large sum of money with him" when he was arrested. He was taken to the Pima County Jail in Tucson and it was not clear if he would be extradited to North Carolina.

Nash County Sheriff Keith Stone told reporters that Rexford "could have made it a lot tougher" for law enforcement to apprehend him if he had crossed the southern border. Rexford was driving a gold-colored truck, which was a vehicle owned by his father. Both of Rexford's vehicles had previously been seized by authorities.

Rexford fled after a warrant was issued for his arrest on Friday, days after his wife's body was found after she was reported missing.

On March 12, North Carolina Department of Transportation employees found a decomposed body along a remote road about 30 minutes away from Diana's home in Nashville. While the exact cause of death remained unknown, authorities treated the case as homicide.

Local media WTVD reported that Rexford told officials he last saw his wife leaving their home with friends on Friday, March 8. The Nash County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release that Diana was reported missing on Saturday, March 9. On March 13, the department confirmed the body found in the woods in Edgecombe County was of the missing woman.

The woman's mother told WTVD her daughter had planned to divorce her husband. She also said her husband had threatened Diana.

The murder of Diana also re-opened the 2006 accident case of Rexford's first wife Elizabeth. Investigators claimed at the time that Elizabeth fell on the corner of some concrete steps in front of their Nashville house and died.