Investigators in Georgia are searching for a man accused of killing a DeKalb County pastor and then dumping her body inside a van along a narrow, rural roadway, authorities said.
At around 10:25 p.m. on Wednesday, DeKalb County police officers responded to the 1600 block of Coffee Road and discovered the van belonging to Marita Harrell. Inside the van, according to investigators, was the body of the 57-year-old pastor, dead from apparent stab wounds.
Detectives believe Harrell’s body was dumped there after being killed at a home along Panola Road. Investigators said they used phone records to backtrack Harrell’s steps and found out the reverend had been mentoring and counseling a 27-year-old man at the home the same night she was found dead.
A SWAT team executed a search warrant on a home, which is about five miles from where Rev. Harrell’s body was found. Investigators said they did not find the suspect inside the home. However, they said they found what is believed to be the scene of the deadly stabbing. Investigators spent Thursday evening scouring the home for evidence and speaking to relatives who live with the suspect in the home.
Police said they spoke with the suspect earlier in the day by phone. He told officers he would surrender to authorities, but he never showed up at the arranged time. Investigators have not yet released the man’s name.
Anyone with information in the case is asked to call the DeKalb County Police Department at 770-724-7850.
Harrell was the senior pastor at Connections at Metropolitan UMC, according to the church’s website. A native of Chicago, she has spent the last three decades in metro Atlanta after earning a degree at Emory University.
