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Tyler Rios, 27, will likely be prosecuted federally because state lines were crossed, they suggested.
Union County prosecutor’s detectives had called their colleagues at the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office around 3 a.m. Saturday telling them they believed Rios was in the area.
Rios had abducted his son, Sebastian, and was suspected of harming Yasemin Uyar, 24, of Rahway, sometime Friday, they said.
Within 15 minutes, local police spotted Uyar’s silver Ford Fiesta at the Bethel Inn Hotel off Route 40 in Monterey, a tiny town of 2,850 on land once owned by Thomas Jefferson between Nashville and Knoxville.
“Authorities then began to gather information and investigate, verifying that Tyler Rios had in fact rented and was occupying a room at the hotel,” the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office reported Sunday.
“Law enforcement made contact with Rios and attempted to convince him to give up and exit his room,” the report said. “Rios refused to do so, at which time law enforcement entered the hotel room by force taking Rios into custody.”
Sebastian was with him, unharmed.
Uyar wasn’t.
Investigators obtained search warrants for the room and the Ford, which was taken to a forensic crime lab.
The FBI also joined the investigation.
Rios led federal agents and sheriff’s officers to a spot less than 10 miles away on Route 70, near Cookeville, TN, where they found Uyar’s body. Authorities didn't say how or where they believe she was killed.
Rios, a Highland Park native whose most recent address was in East Orange, was being held in the Putnam County Jail on a felony fugitive charge pending extradition to New Jersey.
Chances are that federal authorities will take control of the case, under federal kidnapping laws, given that state lines were crossed.
“I am very pleased with the professionalism of Putnam Sheriff Deputies, Monterey Police Officers and the cooperation with other agencies involved,” Putnam County Sheriff Eddie Farris said.
“I am thankful for the wellbeing and unharmed two-year-old,” he added. “I would also like to express my sadness regarding the death of Yasemin Uyar and condolences to her family and friends.”
The news was crushing for loved ones, friends and others who held a vigil Saturday night in Highland Park.
Sebastian hadn't shown up for daycare Friday and Uyar didn't arrive for scheduled work shifts, they said.
Responding to loved ones' concerns for her welfare, Rahway police went to Uyar's home didn't find anyone there.
New Jersey State Police then issued an Amber Alert that was sent to private cell phones, broadcast on electronic billboards along highways in New Jersey and beyond and shared on social media.
Loved ones weren't sure exactly when the trio went missing because Yasemin Uyar had been packing for a move, her mother, Karen Uyar, said.
Rios could have taken them to any number of destinations, including Georgia, she said. He reportedly has connections in Newark, Paterson, Lawrenceville, GA, and Phoenix, AZ.
Rios assaulted her daughter several times despite a restraining order, Uyar said.
Rios convicted of aggravated assault on a domestic violence victim and was placed on conditional probation out of Middlesex County just last year, court records show. Yasemin Uyar was the victim, a close family friend told Daily Voice.
Records show he'd also been arrested at least twice in Arizona in 2019, once on assault and unlawful imprisonment charges and another time for allegedly firing a gun.
Karen Uyar said her daughter and Rios had known each other since she was in high school but hadn't been involved since after their boy was born. She said he could become violent, particularly when he drinks, she told a reporter.
“While my family grieves the loss of Yasemin please remember she wasn’t just a DV (domestic violence) victim," the grieving woman said Saturday. "Her life will be celebrated as her greatest gift to this world, Sebastian will still need all of our love and support."
Funeral arrangements were pending, she said.
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