UPDATE: Man accused of murdering Ohio woman on Hatteras is captured

The man accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend, an Ohio mother of two, while they were vacationing on Hatteras Island was arrested this morning by law enforcement authorities in Ohio.

At a late morning media conference, Peter Elliott, chief U.S. marshal for the Northern District of Ohio, said Nathan Summerfield, 27, was taken into custody about 9:30 a.m. at a motel in Medina County, Ohio.

Summerfield has been the subject of a nationwide manhunt since his ex-girlfriend, Lynne Jackenheimer, disappeared while the couple and her two children, one of whom was his, were vacationing in Salvo during the week of July 4.

Jackenheimer, who lived in Ashland, Ohio, was last heard from on July 3, according to authorities.  Summerfield dropped the two children off with their grandparents in Ashland on July 8 and then disappeared.

Jackenheimer’s body was discovered on July 14 in Frisco.  An autopsy determined that she died of strangulation and stab wounds.

The Dare County Sheriff’s Office has charged Summerfield with first-degree murder in her death.

The suspect has been on the run for about six weeks and there have been numerous reported sightings of him.

Elliott said that his 2009 gray, four-door Honda Civic was found in Michigan on Aug. 8 and had been in that location for at least three weeks.

The marshal said Summerfield was not armed and did not resist law enforcement officers from various Ohio counties and towns, state troopers, and U.S. marshals.

Elliott added that Summerfield had grown a full beard during the time he has been a fugitive and that he checked into the motel about 30 miles north of Ashland just yesterday.

Elliott would not answer questions about how authorities think he got to the motel or where he has been since his vehicle was discovered in Michigan.

“If there was anyone helping Mr. Summerfield, they will be looking at federal charges of harboring,” he said.

The marshal also would not be specific about what led authorities to the motel this morning.

“We put a number of tips together that led to that motel room,” he said, adding that authorities had tips of Summerfield sightings from all around the country.

Summerfield is in the Medina County jail and will eventually be extradited to Dare County, where he will be tried for Jackenheimer’s murder.

That process could take a while, Elliott said.

Both Elliott and Ashland County Sheriff E. Wayne Risner commented on the spirit of the Ashland community, which they said have rallied around Jackenheimer’s family and her children and helped in the search for Summerfield with such things as a Facebook page and wanted posters.