Police said a man remains at large after he was charged with strangling his 19-year-old girlfriend and burying her remains in a shallow grave near a Somerset County trail.

Officials confirmed that remains found on Sunday along the Great Allegheny Passage near Meyersdale are that of 19-year-old Justine Jackson. She was last seen on Sept. 14.

Police said Jonathan Beal, 23, of Meyersdale, is charged with criminal homicide, abuse of a corpse and aggravated assault.

Police say Beal left the area after they interviewed him about the remains. He remained at large as of 2:10 p.m. Tuesday.

Beal was the last person seen with Jackson, who was last seen walking along Glade City Road, less than a mile from where her remains were found, police said. They said Beal told them he ended his relationship with Jackson and acknowledged being with her in that area the day she died.

State police said a person walking in a wooded area near the trail found the remains Sunday afternoon and called authorities. Troopers from the Somerset barracks responded to the scene in Larimer Township, just south of Meyersdale, and confirmed the remains were human.

For the past two weeks, 6 News has had several phone calls and posts on the WJAC-TV Facebook page about a body being found on the same trail, and many people had speculated that it was Jackson.

6 News checked in with state police many times but officials continually said those were only rumors. After the remains were found, they said that the earlier reports are bizarre but said Sunday's was the first legitimate report.

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