A body found by a motorist near Cherry corner at Calloway County in Kentucky on early Friday morning has been identified as one of the Murray State University students from Virginia.

The discovery of the body in a ditch happened after the Murray State campus police conducted a welfare check when Sarah Townsend did not show up for work on Friday.

After discovering the body, the state police immediately sent out a description and a photographed shoe of the victim on Friday afternoon as they were not able to identify her right away. Family members and the student profile of the University helped detectives to identify Sarah Townsend.

According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, the Kentucky state police confirmed on Saturday in a preliminary autopsy report conducted at the Western Kentucky Medical Examiner's Office that the 21-year-old student died from multiple gunshot wounds. 

Further investigations also led to the immediate arrest of a suspect who also had ties to a similar area in Georgia.

Based on the Kentucky state police's follow-up investigation, they have arrested 22-year-old Julius Sotomayor and charged him with the killing of the college student.

Investigators of the state police honed in on Sotomayor after interviews with friends and relatives helped them learn her last known location, Murray Ledger & Times reported.

Furthermore, the Toyota Camry of the young student who went missing showed up on traffic cameras in central Georgia, where Sotomayor has ties. 

At around 4 a.m. on Saturday, Julius Sotomayor was arrested by the investigators and transported back in Kentucky close to his home, and he still had the stolen Toyota Camry. 

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The Arrest

The state police detailed the situation and shared that in the early morning hours of Saturday, they were able to determine that the Camry has made its way back to Kentucky. Evidence and statements gathered by the investigators throughout their inquiry established probable cause to arrest Sotomayor.

The suspect was charged with murder, tampering with physical evidence, and theft by unlawful taking. Julius Sotomayor is currently being held in the Calloway County Jail on a $1 million bond, based on the jail records.

During a news release, Kentucky State Police Trooper Adam Jones said that numerous intelligence services helped the discovery of the vehicle of the victim. Traffic cameras have observed Sarah Townsend's Camry in central Georgia. 

The Kentucky State Police were assisted by many agencies, including the Calloway County Sheriff's Office, Murray State University Police, and the officials with Murray State University, Crime Online reported.

Kentucky is reportedly a safe state overall. The state's safest city is Somerset that recorded just 23 violent crimes in 2017. Madisonville earned the state's second safest city with a 1.55 per 1,000 violent crime rate. Lawrenceburg is in the third position for having nine violent crimes in 2017.

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WATCH: Kentucky Man Held on $1M Bond in Death of University Student - WSIL News 3