ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – After discovering the remains of a woman in the Ocala National Forest last weekend, St. Johns County homicide detectives announced on Monday they would charge a 30-year old St. Johns County man with murder in an eight-year-old case.
According to detectives, Ralph Faba, 30, will be charged with the killing of Alicia Eakins. They said Eakins' remains were located in a remote area of Putnam County last weekend.
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Faba is currently serving a sentence of 40 years for the 2000 murder of 16-year-old St. Augustine High School student Angela Durling. In 2003, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the teen's death.
"Faba is a thug. He is a killer. He is a textbook case of a stone-cold killer," said Sheriff David Shoar.
Eakins was reported missing by a relative at about the same time Durling's body was found. Eakins was last seen getting out of Faba?s green pickup truck at 3 p.m. on Feb. 24, 2000 in the area of U.S. Highway 1 and W. King Street, according to deputies.
Investigators said Eakins and Faba had also been seen in a physical altercation at a St. Augustine bar in late February of that year. She was 25 at the time of her disappearance.
According to detectives, Faba has always been a suspect in Eakins' disappearance; however, they did not have the evidence to charge him until recently when they said Faba actually admitted to killing the woman.
The St. Johns County Sheriff?s Office cold case unit re-examined the investigation and developed new evidence along with interviews with witnesses.
Faba was brought back to St. Johns County late last week and spoke with detectives. The investigation led detectives to the Ocala National Forest off state Road 19 in southern Putnam County, where a shallow grave was located and remains that were later positively identified as those of Eakins were found.
"This man was, in our opinion, a serial killer who was just getting started in his career," said prosecutor John Tanner. "He will never see the light of day outside of prison again."
Faba has not yet been formally charged with killing Eakins, but prosecutors said he would be charged in due time. The case is being considered to go before a grand jury.