NY man arrested in death of woman found burning in North Stonington

UPDATED Suffolk County, N.Y., police investigating the death of Rebecca Koster, whose burning remains were found in a field in North Stonington in December, charged a Central Islip man Monday with murder.

Evans Ganthier, 30, was charged with second-degree murder. He will be arraigned today at the First District Court in Central Islip.

Suffolk County police did not provide any further information.

State police in Connecticut would not say whether they would lodge additional charges against Ganthier.

Koster was hanging out with some friends at a local bar near on Long Island and was last seen around 3:30 a.m. Dec. 4 near her home in Medford, police said.

That same day, Koster's body was found near the intersection of Jeremy Hill Road and Route 201 just before 7:30 p.m., not far from the roadway, after a caller reported a possible brush fire. Firefighters discovered her body after extinguishing the flames.

The Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled her death a homicide.

Police have never said how Koster was killed but her stepfather, Larry Ross, said she was stabbed to death. After Koster died, her family said they received ominous text messages from her cell phone.