Rincon Police investigators are expected to return soon with a man wanted as a person of interest in the death of a Rincon woman last week.

Chris Todd Lowery, 45, was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service and Marietta, Ohio, Police Department officers late Tuesday night at a motel in Marietta. He is awaiting an extradition hearing on his return to Rincon.

“Our investigators are interviewing him and processing the vehicle,” Rincon Police Chief Mike Bohannon said.

Lowery was wanted by the Rincon Police Department on a warrant for theft by taking a motor vehicle issued on May 25. Lowery allegedly stole a 2004 Pontiac Grand Am belonging to Linda Shaffer. Lowery is also a person of interest in the death of Shaffer.  

Rincon Police officers found Shaffer’s body May 28 in the kitchen of her Rahn Street home in Rincon. Lowery was identified soon thereafter as a person of interest in her death.

The case was being worked by the Rincon Police Department and the Ogeechee Circuit District Attorney’s office. When it was determined that Lowery had fled the state, the case was referred to the U.S. Marshals Service Savannah Office of the Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force for help. Rincon Police and District Attorney’s Office worked numerous leads that suggested that Lowery may have returned to his home state of West Virginia. 

The Marshals Fugitive Task Force generated leads that placed Lowery in the Parkersburg, W. Va., area. Lowery’s parents and other family members live in Parkersburg. 

Although Rincon Police contacted family members around May 28 and said Lowery was a person of interest, none of the family members had seen or heard from Lowery. On Tuesday, the Marshals Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force discovered that Lowery could be at a local motel in the Parkersburg area. The Savannah Task Force enlisted the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Charleston, W.Va., Fugitive Task Force to try to locate Lowery.  When the West Virginia Marshals arrived in Parkersburg, they began to check all the motels. It was determined that Lowery had been staying at the Red Roof Inn since approximately May 28. 

The West Virginia Marshals interviewed Lowery’s parents, who said they had not seen or heard from Lowery.  Ironically, the Red Roof Inn where Lowery was staying was only a stone’s throw from his parent’s residence.

“Experience has proven that most fugitives will run to an area where they feel comfortable and can get support in the way of food, money and shelter,” Tommy Long of the U.S. Marshals Service said in a statement. “In this case Lowery went against the norm by not contacting family members even though he was only a mile away.”

Unfortunately by the time the Marshals got to the Red Roof Inn, Lowery had checked out. The West Virginia Marshals enlisted the assistance of the West Virginia State Police and the public in trying to find Lowery. At approximately 10 p.m. Tuesday, the Marshals generated new leads that placed Lowery just across the state line into Marietta, Ohio, about 20 miles from Parkersburg.

During a canvass of the motels in the area, the West Virginia Marshals found the 2004 Pontiac Grand Am at a Microtel motel. The Marshals determined which room Lowery was in and were able to arrest him without incident.

“This arrest could not have been possible if all law enforcement in three states and the U.S. Marshals Service hadn’t been working together,” Bohannon said.

Lowery was taken to the local jail to await extradition back to Effingham County.