Arrest in murder of woman found on beach
When Jaimee Mendez disappeared last November, the last person believed to have seen her alive, Jason Fleury, said he had nothing to do with it.
Now he has been charged with her murder.
Fleury, 37, was arrested on Tuesday in Hampton, Virginia, the Essex District Attorney’s office announced.
Mendez, 25, of Swampscott, never came home on November 6, touching off frantic efforts by her family and law enforcement to find her. Two months later, on January 28, her body was found on King’s Beach in Swampscott. Mendez left behind a 5-year-old son.
Fleury told The Item last November that he was with Mendez the night she disappeared but denied having anything to do with her death.
“I didn’t hurt the girl. She and I are friends; unfortunately a little mom is missing, and I’m a Level 3 sex offender,’’ Fleury told The Item, which reported that his sex offender conviction was for having sex with a 13 year old when he was 18, and then failing to register as an offender in Massachusetts.
“This has been a long and pain-staking investigation, with a single goal; justice for Jaimee Mendez,’’ District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett said in a statement.
Fleury is expected to be extradited to Massachusetts to be arraigned for Mendez’s murder.
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