SURPRISE, Ariz. — The body of ASU professor Jun Seok Chae was discovered in a landfill last week after a months-long search, and two teenagers have been arrested in connection to his death.
Chae was reported missing on March 25 after he didn’t return home from work. The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office says detectives from Shreveport, Louisiana contacted them after his disappearance and said Javian Ezell, Gabrielle Austin and a third person were pulled over while driving in Chae’s car.
Investigators believe, Chae, the Associate Dean for Research at ASU’s school of engineering, was killed near Carefree Highway and 7th Street in Maricopa County.
His body was discovered in a dumpster at Northwest Regional Landfill in Surprise.
Deputies searched the landfill from May 11 until his body was found on July 17. And a medical examiner was able to positively identify the body as Chae.
Ezell and Austin, both 18, were extradited to Arizona and are currently in MCSO custody.
It’s unclear what Ezell and Austin’s relationship with Chae was.
They were booked into jail with a $1 million bond each and were charged with 1st-degree murder, armed robbery and theft of Means of Transportation.
An ASU spokesperson issued the following statement: