Lonnie Vann
KNOXVILLE–A former Top 10 fugitive who had been wanted by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation for armed robbery has now been charged with killing a woman who had been reported missing in Campbell County more than a month ago.
Lonnie Lee Vann, 44, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of kidnapping, the TBI said in a press release Wednesday, the same day a Campbell County grand jury returned the indictments.
At the request of 8th District Attorney General Jared Effler, TBI special agents, helped by investigators from the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office and other law enforcement agencies in East Tennessee, began investigating the disappearance of Rhonda Daugherty on December 4. The 49-year woman went missing from her home on December 2.
“Through the course of the investigation, special agents developed information that led them to Lonnie Lee Vann as the individual responsible for Mrs. Daugherty’s death,” the TBI said.
On December 5, Vann was placed on the TBI Top 10 Most Wanted list as a fugitive wanted for two counts of armed robbery from an incident earlier that day in Lafollette. Vann was captured without incident in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, a week later and has been held there since his arrest.
Vann is a Jacksboro resident and former Campbell County middle school teacher. He is awaiting extradition back to Campbell County. He is being held on a $1 million bond on the new charges, the press release said.
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