LORANGER – The Tangipahoa Sheriff's Office reported the arrest of a man following a murder investigation in Loranger after a woman's body was found near the roadway.

On Wednesday afternoon, 30-year-old Brain Gregory Anthony, II, was arrested for the murder of 27-year-old Heather Cox.

Around 4:20 a.m. on Tuesday, deputies responded to reports of a body laying near Briarpatch Cemetery Road. Deputies determined that the body was that of 27-year-old Heather Cox. The sheriff's department said that Cox was the victim of a murder and not of a pedestrian fatality as she suffered a gunshot wound to the torso. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Deputies responded to a separate incident of a car on fire on Hwy. 1054 in Independence. A Nissan Sentra was found burned in a grassy area off the highway and detectives managed to link the car to the murder.

Anthony was arrested on charges of second-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, burglary, simple criminal damage, simple battery, felony theft, simple arson and two counts of auto theft.