STEVENS COUNTY, WA -- Today, detectives from the Stevens County Sheriff’s Office arrested 42-year-old Preston Lee Rogers on a charge of Murder in the 1st degree.

Human remains were located today on state land in a wooded area off of Cemetery Road South of Springdale in Southern Stevens County. Positive identification is pending at this time and an autopsy is being scheduled by the Stevens County Coroner with a pathologist in the Spokane County Medical Examiners Office. It is believed that these human remains are those of 28-year-old Cheryl Lynn Hayward who had been reported missing under suspicious circumstances on July 14, 2008. Preston Lee Rogers Jr. is a former boyfriend of Cheryl Lynn Hayward.

Deputies and Detectives of the Stevens County Sheriff’s Office have been continuously investigating this case since the original missing person report. Extensive searches had been conducted with the assistance of the United Stated Border Patrol horse and helicopter units and Stevens County Explorer Search and Rescue Post 920.

Preston Lee Rogers, Jr. has been booked into the Stevens County Jail pending an initial appearance in court which is being schedule by the Stevens County Prosecutors Office.