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Authorities Arrest Suspect In Death Of Chelsea Bruck

MONROE (WWJ) -- Monroe County Sheriff Dale Malone announced Friday that a suspect has been arrested in connection with the murder of Chelsea Bruck, the 22-year-old woman who disappeared from a Halloween party in 2014.

Malone made the announcement at a press conference on Friday, saying that his deputies received new information from Michigan State Police that connected a 27-year-old man from Newport to the homicide investigation.

"Surveillance was set up on the suspect's residence today at 2:55 p.m., the suspect was taken into custody and transported to the Monroe County jail and interviewed," Malone said. "During the interview, detectives obtained details that only the killer would have known, as this information had never been disseminated to the public."

The Bruck family was notified just prior to the press conference and will release a statement at a later date.

"The suspect is lodged in the Monroe County jail pending an open murder charge," Malone said. "Information on the suspect will be forthcoming after his arraignment sometime Monday."

Bruck's remains were discovered on April 24, 2015 -- several months after her disappearance -- in a wooded lot on Briar Hill Road in Ash Township. Police were called after construction workers discovered the remains.

Since that time, the sheriff's office says detectives have spoken with a large number of people who attended the massive Halloween party at a rural property on Post Road in Frenchtown Township on October 25, 2014, where she was last seen.

In early June, the sheriff's office said it was looking to talk to a specific person seen in photos taken at the party — a man they called a "potential witness" in the case, who later came forward.

The unnamed potential witness looked similar to a sketch released to the media a ways back, portraying a man who was seen walking from the party with Bruck toward where cars were parked at around 3 a.m. the morning Bruck was last seen alive. It's not clear if it was the same man.

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