A North Carolina man has been accused of killing a 29-year-old woman who was missing for weeks — and then stealing her Yorkie terrier mix dog.
Floyd Morris Long, 45, was arrested by police in Charlotte Saturday in connection to the murder of Shaquina Latavia Harris, who was last seen leaving Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center on July 2, WSOC-TV reported.
Her sudden disappearance last month was out of character and prompted her friends and family to hang missing persons posters around town in mid-July, just weeks after she was first reported missing.
“I ain’t sleeping. I can’t sleep ‘cause we don’t know if you’re okay, if you’re not,” her aunt, Lakisha Harris, told WSOC in July.
“On July 3, Shaquina goes completely blank. Nobody hears from her, sees her,” she added. “Sigh, it’s just not like her.”
Michaela Carter, Harris’ best friend, told the outlet last month that were “not stopping until we find her.”
Harris’ last known contact with her loved ones was a FaceTime call from a home on Woodford Bridge Drive the night of July 2. Records show that Long’s address is on the same street.
Her friends said that she had been visiting her newborn niece at the hospital the day that she was last seen.
In addition to hanging posters, friends and family searched the greenway near where Harris was last seen.
However, new court documents accuse Long of killing Harris “on or around July 5” and then stealing her dog, described as a white, long-haired Yorkie terrier mix.
The relationship between Long and Harris was not immediately clear. No further details about how police linked him to the alleged murder were released.
He was also charged with concealing or failing to report a death. Prosecutors allege in the court documents that Long secretly disposed of Harris’ body with the intent of concealing her death, according to Queen City News.
Long was booked Saturday in the Mecklenburg County Jail and charged with first-degree murder, felony larceny of a dog and concealing/failure to report death.
He is currently being held without bail.