A woman who came to Florida to escape from her abusive husband was kidnapped, shot to death, then buried in the Smoky Mountains, according to documents from the FBI.
Rachel Madison, 44, came to the Ormond Beach area before Thanksgiving to escape her husband, Jarvis Madison, who officials say had threatened her and tried to shoot her when they were in Indiana.
In that incident, officials said Jarvis Madison, armed with a pistol, held Rachel Madison captive inside his 2011 Honda Pilot and threatened to kill her on Nov. 14. Rachel Madison tried to escape when Jarvis Madison pulled over on a remote area of Interstate 64 West in Indiana to use the restroom, officials said.
He shot at her during the escape attempt, according to a criminal complaint. The bullet missed Rachel Madison, but Jarvis Madison was still able to capture his wife and force her back into the vehicle, the FBI said.
Before that escape attempt, Rachel Madison spoke with her aunt, Thelma Newsom, on the phone. Rachel Madison had contacted Newsom on Nov. 11 asking her to drive from Florida to Indiana to help her get away from her husband, officials said. Newsom was on her way to pick up her niece during the kidnapping, officials said.
During that phone conversation, Jarvis Madison threatened to kill his wife multiple times, according to the complaint.
"You are going to be burying her (Rachel Madison) and it's all on you, when the police show up I will have my gun in hand," Jarvis Madison told Newsom, according to the FBI. Rachel Madison could be heard in the background yelling that her husband had a gun cocked and loaded.
Rachel Madison was able to escape the car later that day. She left her personal effects behind and ran into a Walmart to get help. Indiana State Police were unsuccessful in their attempts to meet with Jarvis Madison after the incident. A warrant was issued for his arrest in Indiana on Nov. 28; by that point she had already been reported missing in Florida.
Newsom met Rachel Madison at the Walmart in Indiana and brought her back to her house in the Ormond Beach area after she spoke with police in Indiana.
Rachel Madison was at her aunt's house when she went out for a jog on Nov. 27 around 1:30 p.m. and never returned. Newsom told the 911 operator she was afraid Jarvis Madison had abducted her niece, according to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.
Cellphone records revealed that Jarvis Madison was in the area when his wife went missing. His cellphone then connected to a cell tower near Jacksonville around 6:42 p.m. Nov. 27. It pinged just after midnight near Columbia, South Carolina, the next day.
On Nov. 29, a license plate reader scanned Jarvis Madison's vehicle in Weston, West Virginia.
Officials interviewed an acquaintance of Jarvis Madison on Nov. 29 who said he showed up at her house in Buckhannon, West Virginia, around 10 a.m. the day before. The woman said she has been involved in a "personal relationship" with Jarvis Madison since 2009. During that time, she's wired him about $200,000, the FBI said.
The woman told officials Jarvis Madison was alone and looked tired when he arrived at her home. He was there for four hours and during that time he showered and ate a meal.
Jarvis Madison was located in Louisville, Kentucky, on Dec. 2 and arrested on the Indiana warrant. He was in the Honda Pilot at the time of his arrest, but the license plate had been swapped for a Tennessee license plate.
After his arrest, Jarvis Madison claimed he drove to Florida to give his wife her belongings back. He told officials the pair kissed then Rachel Madison willingly got into the vehicle. He said he shot her three times while they were in the vehicle and then buried her in the Smoky Mountains, the criminal complaint said.
Jarvis Madison helped officials locate Rachel Madison's body in Tennessee, they said.
Substantial blood stains, a gun, cellphones and a receipt for a shovel were found inside the Honda Pilot, the FBI said. A series of photographs were found on Jarvis Madison's phone depicting his wife's dead body, according to the complaint.
Jarvis Madison denied killing his wife during after a court appearance Tuesday. He is charged with kidnapping that resulted in death.