Search for pregnant former ‘Food Network Star’ contestant leads to murder arrest in NC

Posted 9:49 am, March 17, 2015, by , Updated at 09:52AM, March 17, 2015
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Source: Buncombe County Sheriff's Office

Source: Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Police in North Carolina have made an arrest in the search for a former “Food Network Star” contestant and her husband.

Cristie Schoen Codd, 38, a competitor on season 8 of “Food Network Star,” and her husband, Joseph “JT” Codd, 45, were reported missing by their family on Sunday.

On Monday night, deputies searched a property about a half-mile from the couple’s home. Early Tuesday, deputies told WHNS Robert Jason Owens had been charged with first-degree murder, breaking and entering and other related charges.

Owens was also charged with the murder of an unborn child. Codd was five months pregnant, a friend told WHNS.

Joseph worked as a key grip on Hollywood films and Cristie provided catering services on film sets. The couple was often gone for several months at a time, a friend told WHNS.