The body of the pregnant missing wife of a U.S. Marine based in Southern California has been found and her alleged lover has been charged with homicide, police said.
Christopher Brandon Lee, 24, was arrested in Anchorage, Alaska and charged in the murder of 20-year-old Erin Corwin, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said Monday.
He was arrested at 9 p.m. on Sunday at a traffic stop on a warrant out of California, the Anchorage Police Department said.
The body of Corwin, who was reported missing in late June, was recovered Sunday in a 140-foot mine shaft in California, the sheriff's department said. Dental records were used to make a positive identification. The search area covered 300 square miles and more than 100 mine shafts, authorities said.
San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael Ramos said official charges against Lee will be determined within the next 48 hours.
Court papers show Lee was the lover of Corwin, who disappeared June 28 after leaving her Twentynine Palms home.
Corwin had planned to meet Lee, a married ex-Marine, for a hunting trip. Marine Cpl. Jonathan Corwin reported his wife missing the next day.
An affidavit says the investigation focused on Lee and the unborn child may have been his.
According to local media reports, Corwin told investigators his wife -- a volunteer horse rescue worker -- wanted to scout out Joshua Tree National Park in advance of a planned family visit. The Corwins are originally from Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and Erin Corwin's mother had planned to visit her for her birthday in the coming weeks. Mother and daughter had already purchased tickets to visit SeaWorld, authorities said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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