US student Catherine Serou was found dead in Russia after sending a cryptic text to her mom saying "I hope I'm not being abducted."
The body of the 34-year-old was found Saturday in a wooded area near the city of Nizhny Novgorod 250 miles east of Moscow.
The former US Marine had been missing since Tuesday.
Her mother, Beccy Serou, of Vicksburg, Mississippi, told U.S. National Public Radio that her daughter had last texted her: "In a car with a stranger. I hope Im not being abducted."
State news agency RIA-Novosti cited the local court as saying the suspect gave her a ride in his car, then took her to the wooden area and beat her and stabbed her in the course of a dispute.
Russian news reports have identified the suspect as Alexander Popov and said he had a record of violent crimes.
He faces up to life in prison if convicted of murder.
Beccy Serou told NPR that her daughter was in a hurry to get to a clinic Tuesday and may have gotten into a passing car.
"I think that when she saw that the person wasnt driving to the clinic, but instead was driving into a forest, she panicked, " Beccy Serou said.
Last week more than 100 volunteers scoured the local forests in a bid to locate Serou, before the suspect was detained, authorities said.
The US Embassy in Moscow said it is "closely monitoring" the investigation into Catherine’s death.
Serou moved from California to Russia in 2019 to study law at Lobachevsky University in Nizhny Novgorod, news reports said.
More to follow…
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