Man Arrested After Woman in Apartment Fire Dies
Police arrested suspect Matthew Benner, found asleep in his vehicle in Nevada.
— -- A woman died in her Charlotte, North Carolina, apartment building after a neighbor allegedly killed her and set the apartment on fire to cover it up, police say.
The parents of Amanda Strous, 27, had been preparing for their daughter's July wedding but are instead planning her funeral.
Her father, Eric Strous, told ABC News, "It's kind of a loss for words. She made me a better dad, a better man, a better husband. She was the light of my life."
"It's a parent's worst nightmare, and you never think it's going to happen to you," said her mother, Crystal Strous.
Authorities followed the GPS signal of suspect Matthew Benner's cellphone, stretching the manhunt across the country. Officials arrested Benner after they found him asleep in his car in Nye County, Nevada.
The Nye County Sheriff's Office said "an interview was conducted and confession obtained" from Benner.
Officials in North Carolina are waiting for Benner, 28, where he will be charged with murder and arson in connection to the Saturday incident.
Police say some of Strous' belongings were found in Benner's apartment, according to ABC News Charlotte affiliate WSOC-TV.
Officials have not provided details about how well the two knew each other. They said Strous was at her apartment alone this weekend while her roommate, Katie Shoop, was away in Pennsylvania.
Shoop called it "very surreal" while attending a vigil for Strous with family and friends.
"I don't think it's going to hit me until I go back down" to Charlotte, Shoop said. "I just can't imagine life without Amanda Strous in the world. It just doesn't make sense."
Strous' fiance, Corey McCleaf, was out of town when she was killed.
"I just didn't believe it. I couldn't take it in," he told ABC News. “The last thing I actually got to say to her was 'I love you, and I'll talk to you later.'"
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