Authorities found a body on Thursday afternoon in Goochland County that they believe is that of Kevin Wayne Quick, the missing Waynesboro police reserve captain, according to a law enforcement source.
The body was found in a remote area near the Fluvanna County line about 3 miles northeast of Columbia, near the intersection of Old Columbia and Lowry roads, authorities said.
Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said she could not officially identify the body until after the person's relatives are notified. She also said the body would be taken to the state medical examiner's office for autopsy and identification.
It was not immediately clear exactly when the body was found or what led authorities to it.
Geller said late Thursday afternoon in a statement that the body was located after "various searches" in Louisa and Fluvanna counties.
Quick, 45, of Nelson County, was last seen leaving his mother's Afton home about 10:15 p.m. on Friday in his SUV. He was heading to Albemarle County, to visit the mother of his four-month-old daughter, but he never arrived, Geller said.
The SUV was captured in surveillance photos at a cash machine in Fork Union on Friday night along with two people, who were then seen with the vehicle at a cash machine in Manassas on Saturday night.
According to a search warrant filed in Louisa County Circuit Court on Monday, Quick's bank account was accessed at the cash machine in Fork Union Friday night.
The court documents also revealed that investigators collected dozens of items from Quick's stolen SUV, including rubber gloves, wallets, cigarettes, cellphone cases and an empty cigarette box with a green substance inside. An affidavit for the search warrant referenced a possible abduction.
Investigators also collected hair, fingerprints and chewing gum from the vehicle, among other items.
On Tuesday, three Albemarle County siblings were arrested in a hotel in Alexandria by authorities who were searching for Quick.
Two of the suspects, Mersadies Shelton, 20, and her brother, Daniel Mathis, 18, are charged with felony grand larceny of Quick's Toyota 4Runner.
The two suspects and their sister, Shantai M. Shelton, 24, appeared Thursday in Louisa General District Court.
An attorney for Mathis asked Thursday that Mathis be released on bond, but the request was denied, authorities said. Mathis also is charged in a shooting and robbery on Sunday in Louisa.
Shantai Shelton was taken into custody on an unrelated warrant issued by the Louisa Sheriff's Office.
The three suspects were appointed attorneys Thursday and had preliminary hearings set for March 18. They are being held without bond at the Central Virginia Regional Jail.
As the search for Quick progressed this week, a focus of the investigation has been the question of how Mathis and Mersadies Shelton allegedly ended up with Quick's SUV.
Police said the 4Runner was discovered Monday morning in Mineral.
Early Thursday, Geller said that a reward offered by Waynesboro-area residents and businesses for information leading to Quick's whereabouts had increased to $40,000.
Copyright 2014 - Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service