COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A man was arrested Wednesday night after a missing 15-year-old girl was raped and likely murdered near Cookeville.
Olivia Daryl Taylor, 15, was reported missing Wednesday, and investigators with the Putnam County Sheriff's Office searched overnight to locate the missing teen, reports the sheriff's office. Taylor's body was found by Putnam County Road Department employees in a "wooded area east of Cookeville" early Thursday afternoon.
Putnam County Sheriff Eddie Farris says the investigation into Taylor's death is being treated as a homicide case.
Charles "Chuck" Carter, 63, has been charged with one count of aggravated statutory rape and is a suspect in the death of the 15-year-old victim.
The victim's body will be sent to the medical examiner's office in Nashville for an autopsy.
Carter is being held at the Putnam County Jail. He was originally held on $50,000 bond for the statutory rape charge, but the Putnam County Sheriff's Office posted a notice that Carter is being held without a bond on their official Facebook page Thursday night.
A GoFundMe has been created to help her family with funeral expenses.
