A Texas woman who was reported missing this month and her empty car was later found in a remote area, authorities said Thursday. A body buried in a field in Grand Prairie on Wednesday has been identified as a missing woman, Kayla Kelly, 33, of McKinney, the Collin County Sheriff’s Office said.
Ocaster Ferguson, 32, was arrested Saturday on kidnapping charges. Now that Kelly’s body has been found, the sheriff’s office will work with the county district attorney on additional charges, the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
Ferguson is being held in lieu of a $1.5 million bond on kidnapping and arson warrants, according to online records. According to the sheriff’s office, Kelly was fired from a vehicle. The sheriff’s office said Kelly’s friends went missing on Jan.
11 after not hearing from her for several days. According to an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by NBC Dallas-Fort Worth, friends reported that Kelly was dating a man she knew, Kevin Brown, but whose real name was Ferguson and who was married, the station said.
Ferguson is also known as Kevin Brown, and online jail records list Ferguson as married, the sheriff’s office said. The Sheriff’s Office said the case remains under investigation, and on Thursday, the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office positively identified the remains found in Grand Prairie.
The cause and manner of death have not been disclosed. Both Grand Prairie and McKinney are in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and Grand Prairie is about 40 miles southwest of McKinney. Her car was found in a remote area of Frisco, the sheriff’s office said.
