Baltimore police have charged a man in the death of his 26-year-old girlfriend who went missing last year.
Police said Monday that Taras Caldwell, 51, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Shaquana Caldwell, who was first reported missing by family in May. Her body was discovered about a month later by hikers off Ordnance Road in Anne Arundel County, said Baltimore police spokesman T.J. Smith.
Smith said Taras Caldwell murdered his girlfriend in an apartment in Baltimore and then drove her body in a wooded area in the 500 block of Ordnance Road. Her death has been ruled a homicide by asphyxiation, he said.
Taras Caldwell did not have an attorney listed in online court records.
Smith said Caldwell was apprehended in Park City, Utah after violating his parole violation by leaving the state. He was brought back to Baltimore on Wednesday.
Smith said Taras Caldwell was released on parole after serving 17 years of a 30-year sentence for the death of another woman in July 1998.
Police used Parabon Snapshot, a DNA analysis service, to identify Shaquana Caldwell’s skeletal remains, Smith said. He said the couple shared the same last name but were not married.
Smith said Taras Caldwell went with city homicide detectives and FBI agents to the scene where Shaquana Caldwell’s body was found. Taras Caldwell pointed out the exact location, and confessed to the murder, Smith said.
Family of Shaquana Caldwell could not be reached Monday.