PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. — Deputies have arrested two Satsuma women in connection with the murder of Putnam County man Chad Mullen.
Caylen Deller, 30, is charged with first-degree premeditated murder with a firearm and Tina Marie Lee-Ellis, 56, is charged with accessory to first-degree murder after the fact, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office said.
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Deller and Mullen “had a volatile on-again, off-again relationship” and Mullen’s family said the two “were no longer dating” at the time of his disappearance, PCSO said in a news release.
Action News Jax has told you previously about Mullen’s disappearance, the discovery of his body, and that Deller was a person of interest in the investigation of Mullen’s death.
Warrants for Deller and Lee-Ellis were obtained on Thursday and Lee-Ellis turned herself in Thursday night, PCSO said.
Deller was supposed to arrive at an appointment in Volusia County on Friday and never showed up.
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That’s when PCSO put out an alert to the public around 2:15 p.m. Friday asking for help finding her.
About an hour later, Action News Jax learned from PCSO that Deller was arrested in Volusia County in the town of Edgewater.
Background of the case
Mullen was first reported missing by his family on Sept. 15 after his family had not heard from him in a week.
PCSO said Mullen “was entered as a missing person on Sept. 17.” On Sept. 20, a search warrant was obtained for Stormy Stables, a business owned by Deller and the last place where Mullen’s phone pinged.
On Oct. 1, deputies searched Lee-Ellis’ home on Pine Street, where PCSO said guns, meth, and ammo were found. Lee-Ellis was not home at the time and on Oct. 21, she was arrested on charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of ammunition by a convicted felon, and possession of meth.
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On Oct. 28, detectives responded to 852 Federal Point Road in Hastings, about a quarter-mile from the Putnam-St. Johns county line, PCSO said.
PCSO, the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement searched through recently moved dirt on the property and found a body, later confirmed to be Mullen’s.
Mullen’s cause of death was determined by an autopsy to be a homicide.
Detectives are still working to determine the relationship between Lee-Ellis and Deller, as well as how long they knew each other.
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