CLAY COUNTY, Fla. - DNA evidence has led to an arrest in the murder case of Jordan Cooper, a 25-year-old Keystone Heights, Florida woman who went missing and was later found dead in her attic, according to the Clay County Sheriff's Office. The suspect: A man who lived down the street from her.
At a press conference on Friday, deputies announced that they arrested a man named Joe Arthur Turner, 27, and charged him with murder and sexual battery. He was already in the Clay County Jail since December 29, 2017 for burglary charges regarding an incident on November 1, 2017.
Cooper was reported missing around Thanksgiving last year by her mother. She was later found dead in the attic of her home on December 9, 2017. She was heavily concealed under layers of insulation, said Chief Wayne McKinney.
"Even looking for her, we had problems finding her," McKinney said.
After they found her body, authorities launched an investigation. They connected her death to a burglary that happened on November 1, 2017 in the same neighborhood. Burglary detectives worked with homicide detectives and they deemed Turner a suspect.
An arrest warrant was issued for Turner and authorities found him hiding in the attic of his home just down the road from Cooper.
"Because of its location, it became a concern for us," McKinney said. "They live on the same street and they are close in age. The suspect is 27. So yes, they had some familiarity just living in the same neighborhood."
Authorities also found women's clothing in Turner's possession, which matched clothing taken from Cooper's home. This allowed authorities enough cause to issue a search warrant to collect his DNA. They said it positively matched a band-aid found in Cooper's home, as well as evidence gathered from a sexual assault kit.
Deputies said Turner doesn't have a history of past felonies and wasn't in the DNA database. Murder and sexual battery were added to Turner's burglary charges.