The body of missing priest Father Rene Robert was found Monday afternoon in Burke County, Georgia, Sheriff Shoar said.(Photo: WLTV)
ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla.—The body of missing Florida priest<span style="color: Red;">*</span>
was found Monday afternoon in Burke County, Ga., according to authorities.
Authorities found<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Father Rene Robert's body<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in a wooded area four miles off a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>highway in Georgia, according to the St. Johns County Sheriff<span style="color: Red;">*</span>David<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Shoar.
According to authorities, the lone suspect in the case,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>28-year-old Steven Murray, led authorities to the priest's body.
Roberts was first reported missing early last week after he uncharacteristically missed a church appointment. He had earlier posted<span style="color: Red;">*</span>on Facebook that he was going to the Orange Park Medical Center to visit a patient.
According to authorities the priest had been trying to help<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Murray. His blue<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Toyota was discovered with Murray in Aiken, S.C.,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>after he led deputies on a brief police chase.
Authorities believe he was killed on Sunday, April 12.
Murray was extradited<span style="color: Red;">*</span>last Friday to St. Johns County and is being held on no bail. Shoar said that Murray will be charged by the state of Georgia and that deputies are in close communication with prosecutors there. A kidnapping charge is also expected out of Duval County.
Deputies say Murray went back and forth between St. Johns County and South Carolina from the time Father Rene was killed to the night of his pursuit.
Sheriff Shoar said he and his investigators have already finished a "huge part" of the case against Murray, but stress that they have a long way to go.
Sheriff Shoar, who had a personal relationship with the priest,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said this is the most intense case he's worked in 35 years. He added that there is no specific cause of death at this point.
Since Robert's disappearance, multiple pray vigils have been held.
“Father Rene was such a loving person and he would do anything for anybody and most people would say the same thing and the fact that he was trying to help somebody and that person took advantage of him, that's what hurts the most," Linda Bertino of the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>St. Bonaventure Secular Franciscan Fraternity, said at a vigil.
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