63-year-old Tenn. man charged with murder, rape after missing 15-year-old is found dead in woods
10/31/2022 12:33 pm PDT
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (TCD) -- A 63-year-old man faces several charges, including murder, after a missing teenage girl was found dead in the woods.
Fifteen-year-old Olivia Daryl Taylor’s family reported her missing to the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday, Oct. 26. Putnam County Sheriff Eddie Farris said it was "imperative" to find Taylor and that "illegal drugs, other individuals participating in illegal activity, and other criminal activity may be involved in the missing of Taylor."
Putnam County Road Department employees reportedly discovered Taylor’s body in a wooded area Thursday, Oct. 27. The Sheriff’s Office said Taylor’s death was "clearly being worked as a homicide."
Deputies arrested Charles "Chuck" Carter Jr. on a charge of aggravated statutory rape and booked him in the Putnam County Jail on $50,000 bond. On Monday, Oct. 31, the Sheriff’s Office announced Carter was additionally charged with second-degree murder and abuse of a corpse.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, "Carter admitted to authorities prior to Taylor’s death that he delivered and provided illegal narcotics to Taylor, which caused her death."
Farris said in the charging announcement, "This tragic event is another example of what illegal drugs coming across our border into our country is doing to our nation. Last year there was over 100,000 deaths from fentanyl related overdoses."
Putnam County District Attorney Bryan Dunaway said the investigation is “still being developed.”
Following the additional charges, Carter is now being held without bond.
According to her obituary, Taylor attended Upperman High School in Baxter, Tennessee, and was a member of the wrestling team was well as ROTC. She "loved baking, sewing, singing, being an artist and playing the ukulele."
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