VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – A murder suspect out of Putnam County was arrested Friday in Volusia County, according to both sheriff’s offices.
Caylen Deller, 30, of Satsuma, was arrested near Edgewater after being named a suspect in the death of Chad Mullen.
Mullen was reported missing on Sept. 15 after his family hadn’t heard from him in a week, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office said on social media. Deller is described as having had a “volatile on-again, off-again” relationship with Mullen.
Detectives obtained a search warrant for Stormy Stables in San Mateo — a business that Deller owns, as well as the last known location where Mullen’s phone pinged — and would go on to follow a tip in late October to an abandoned property along Federal Point Road in Hastings, about a quarter mile into St. Johns from the Putnam County line, the post states.
At that second location, Mullen’s body was uncovered through recently-moved dirt, the post states, adding Mullen’s death was soon confirmed to be a homicide.
Investigators narrowed their focus on Deller and on 56-year-old Tina Marie Lee-Ellis, also of Satsuma. A search warrant executed at Lee-Ellis’ home turned up firearms, ammunition and methamphetamine, though it remains unclear at the time of this report how long she and Deller knew each other, as well as what their relationship was.
Lee-Ellis turned herself in on Thursday to face a charge of accessory to first-degree murder after the fact.
Deller was arrested the next day by Volusia County deputies on her warrant from the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office.
Deller was booked at the Volusia County Branch Jail on no bond. She will face a charge of first-degree murder with a firearm, the sheriff’s office said.
Anyone with information about the case is urged to contact Crime Stoppers of Northeast Florida at 1-888-277-8477 or by using the P3 app.
Watch body-worn camera video of Deller’s arrest by clicking here.
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