Man arrested for girlfriend's murder 3 years after she vanished: Police

A man has been arrested for the murder of his live-in girlfriend nearly three years after the mother of three vanished, authorities said.

Michael Heads, 49, is accused of killing Shada Esther on August 23, 2016, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) said in a statement on Thursday.

Esther's family reported her missing to the Moultrie, Georgia, police after she didn't pick up her three children at the school bus stop that day, said the GBI.

Esther was last known to be with Heads, the GBI said. Within an hour of her last contact with anyone, Heads left Moultrie and went to Atlanta, according to the GBI.

Heads was interviewed and his car was processed for evidence, but he wasn't taken into custody at the time, said the GBI.

Then in February 2017, the GBI was requested to process a scene when human remains were recovered in a wooded area of Banks County, Georgia, authorities said.

Banks County and Moultrie are on opposite parts of the state, over 400 miles apart.

In April 2019, DNA analysis confirmed the remains were Esther, said the GBI.

Jamy Steinberg, Special Agent in Charge with the GBI, declined to comment further on the case.

Heads was arrested on Tuesday in Slidell, Louisiana, police said. He appeared in court on Wednesday and agreed to be extradited to Georgia to face charges for Esther's murder.

Heads has also been charged with two counts of felony financial transaction card fraud, said police.