A Camp Pendleton-based Marine previously considered a "person of interest" in the slaying of a 22-year-old North County military wife was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of murdering her.
San Diego County sheriff's homicide detectives Tuesday arrested 45-year-old Louis Ray Perez in connection with the death of Killgore, who was last seen in Fallbrook on April 13.
Perez was taken into custody on April 14 on an unrelated charge of possession of a stolen weapon, according to the San Diego County District Attorney's Office.
Perez, an active-duty Marine based at Camp Pendleton, was questioned by sheriff's deputies as he is believed to be the last person seen with Killgore.
Perez is a 16-year veteran assigned to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.
Last week, 25-year-old Jessica Lynn Lopez was arrested and charged in Killgore's death. Killgore's body was found in Riverside County on April 19.
Killgore's grandmother, Cheryl Coble of Farmington, Mo., told a hometown newspaper the victim's mother notified San Diego law enforcement about her daughter's disappearance after receiving a call from a stranger who found Killgore's cell phone in the downtown Gaslamp District.
On the night of her disappearance, she was supposed to have gone out with Perez and his girlfriend to a dinner cruise, but it was unclear if the plan came together, Coble told the Daily Journal of Park Hills, Mo. The girlfriend -- it was not immediately clear if she was referring to Lopez -- apparently backed out at the last minute, she added.
Killgore's father and grandfather flew to Southern California this week and handed out photos and information about her, Coble said.
Killgore, a former Missouri resident, had separated from her husband and shipped all her belongings to her parents' home in Pennsylvania, with plans to travel there this week to move back in with them, Coble told the newspaper.
Killgore's family had lived in Rolla, Mo., before relocating to Pennsylvania last fall. Killgore had been looking forward to reuniting with her family, her grandmother said.
"She just wanted to be at her parents' house and just wanted to sit and hold her new niece," Coble told the Daily Journal.
Killgore filed for divorce last week, according to court records. Marine Corps officials agreed to send her husband, Cory, a Pendleton-based Marine, home from Afghanistan following her disappearance. It was unclear when he would return to San Diego County.
