YUBA COUNTY, Calif. — A California Highway Patrol commander was found dead over the weekend in Tennessee.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) confirmed their agents are investigating the death of Julie Vernann Harding. Officer Ricardo Ortiz, with the California Highway Patrol, told ABC10 that Harding was a commander for the CHP's Yuba Sutter area. She was with the CHP since 1999 and was a commander in the Yuba Sutter area since 2018.
Susan Niland, a spokesperson for the TBI, said Harding was found dead after investigators were called to a home on Lake View Drive in Celina, Tennessee. Her body was taken to the Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy, however, according to Niland, her death doesn't appear to be a result of foul play.
While the incident happened in Clay County, Niland said the TBI was investigating her death at the request of 13th Judicial District Attorney General Bryant Dunaway.
ABC10 is working to learn more about the incident, which involves a high-ranking CHP official. This includes a prior arrest that happened just before she was found dead.
According to Lisa Marchesoni, spokesperson for the Rutherford County Sheriff's Office, Harding was charged with criminal trespassing on Dec. 8 and was released the same day. Clay County sheriff's deputies found her dead the morning of Dec. 10.
"California Highway Patrol Captain Harding was a current member of the Yuba-Sutter Area Office, and was on leave at the time of her passing," CHP told ABC10 in a statement.
ABC10 has an inquiry out to the Clay County Sheriff's Office, but the inquiry wasn't immediately returned.
On Tuesday night, Sgt. Amar Gandhi, a spokesperson for the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office, confirmed that the sheriff's office assisted in an arrest at the Sacramento International Airport in connection to the CHP commander who was found dead in Tennessee.
Sgt. Gandhi said a murder warrant was issued out of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, County of Cumberland District Court, and deputies helped with the arrest as the suspect was set to board a flight to Tennessee.
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