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DELAND -- The Volusia County Sheriff's Office has made an arrest in the death of missing Port Orange woman Danielle Santangelo. Willie Hicks, 32, of DeLand, a convicted drug felon, was arrested late Wednesday night and charged with first-degree murder.
The 34-year-old woman was reported missing to the Port Orange Police Department Monday. Through their investigation, Port Orange investigators discovered the car Santangelo was last seen with -- a red 2007 Chrysler Sebring -- in a wooded area off of Darchelle Court and Cherry Street just south of DeLand at about 3:50 p.m. Wednesday.
A body of a woman was found inside and was later identified as Santangelo by means of a tattoo and her driver license photo.
"There was trauma to the woman's body; however, the nature of the trauma and the cause of death will not be released until an autopsy is performed by the Volusia County Medical Examiner's Office," Volusia County Sheriff's spokesman Brandon Haught said.
The Sheriff's Major Case Unit responded to the scene to conduct a homicide investigation.
Following up on phone record leads provided by the Port Orange Police Department, Sheriff's investigators talked to Hicks' mother, Rose Hicks, the Sheriff's spokesman said.
"She said that she had seen her son in the red Chrysler Sebring on Monday, but never saw Santangelo," Haught said. "Willie Hicks is allowed to stay at an apartment room next door to her home at 546 West Euclid Ave. Rose Hicks said she had heard what sounded like the moans of a woman in pain coming from the apartment that he kept locked. Rose Hicks said she saw Willie Hicks late Monday night in a backyard shared by her house and the apartment."
Rose Hicks told Sheriff's investigators her son was carrying bloody clothes in his hands and burned them in a "burn barrel" in the backyard.
"She said that Willie Hicks told her he had put a woman in the red car and didn't want anyone looking inside," Haught said. "There are no more arrests expected in this case, but the case is still active as investigators continue to learn about the sequence of events."
Willie Hicks was booked into the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach.