Taylor Behl's Body Found in Shallow Grave

A body found in a shallow grave 75 miles east of Richmond, Virginia has been identified from dental records as 17-year-old Taylor Behl, a Virginia Commonwealth University freshman who has been missing since Sept. 5.

Richmond Police Chief Rodney Monroe confirmed that the human remains discovered in rural Mathews County are those of Taylor Marie Behl. The badly decomposed remains was identified through dental records provided by Behl's family.

"I'm sure you can imagine the shock and horror that I feel knowing that the body found is most likely my baby," Taylor Behl's mother, Janet Pelasara, said in a statement earlier today.

The Richmond Police task force investigating the disappearance of Behl spent most of the day Wednesday processing the area where the body was found as a crime scene. Local news sources reported that the decomposed body in the grave was wearing clothes that Behl was wearing the night she disappeared.

Some news reports said the property where the grave was discovered was one of a number of "locations of interest" identified by task force investigators during interviews with people questioned in connection with the case. The property where the body was found is believed to belong to a former girlfriend of one of the suspects in the case.

Suspect In Custody?

Behl has not been since she left her dormitory room Sept. 5, to give her roommate and her boyfriend privacy. She was reported missing two days later. Behl's car was found two weeks later, a mile and a half from her dorm. Her license plates had been replaced with Ohio plates reported stolen several weeks before she disappeared.

A 38-year-old amateur photographer who knew Behl, has been arrested on unrelated charges after his house was searched Sept. 16 in connection with the case. Ben Fawley is in jail faces 16 counts of possessing child pornography.

The attorney said the family believes the main suspect in the case is already in custody.

See Also:
'The Body Found Is Most Likely My Baby'
Body Found In VA. Feared To Be That Of Taylor Behl
Investigators Comb Through Crime Scene Where Body Was Found

Previous Articles:
Police Seek License Plate in Missing Teen Case
Police Find Car of Missing Virginia Student

Background:
Friends of Taylor Behl