GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. -- A Clay County grand jury returned indictments Thursday against a married Middleburg couple accused of murder in the death of a Jacksonville man whose charred remains were found inside a burned van in Jennings State Forest.
Joseph Lloyd White, 37, and Bobbi Lee White, 48, were each indicted on charges of first-degree murder, armed robbery, armed burglary with assault or battery, second-degree arson and possession of heroin, according to the 4th Circuit State Attorney's Office.
Both remain in custody without bond at the Clay County Jail.
The Whites were arrested Dec. 17 after investigators linked the couple to the death of Corey Bryan Lane, 35, of Jacksonville, whose body was found inside the torched shell of the van on the fringes of the state forest in Middleburg.
Lane, his family members told investigators, left his Rickenbacker Street home Dec. 14 to give the Whites a ride to a doctor's appointment.
There was so much damage to the van, deputies said, that investigators initially had trouble identifying what kind of vehicle it was. But deputies were able to glean a partial vehicle identification number from the melted plate, which they matched to a GMC Savannah registered to Lane, according to an arrest report.
Deputies later obtained a search warrant for the Whites' Timothy Street home, where they say evidence was found that suggested Lane was killed at the residence. The Whites then allegedly put Lane's body in the van, drove it to the forest and set fire to the vehicle.
A passerby spotted the fire, near Nolan and Ellis Ford roads, the following morning and alerted authorities, according to the Sheriff's Office.
