A member of the U.S. Air Force has been arrested and charged in connection with the murder of Sahela Sangrait, whose body was discovered nearly seven months after she was first reported missing.

The investigation into Sangrait’s death — which began earlier this month after a hiker found her body in an area south of Hill City, S.D. — led authorities to arrest Quinterius Chappelle, an active-duty airman currently stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base in the state. The Pennington County Sheriff's Office (PCSO) announced the arrest on Facebook on Saturday, March 15.

Chappelle, 24, was arrested on federal charges for second-degree murder, according to the PCSO. He was booked into Pennington County Jail on Friday, March 14, at 11:41 p.m. local time, per jail records viewed by PEOPLE.

In the same update, the PCSO also said that investigators have determined that Sangrait was murdered at the South Dakota Air Force base. And, "due to the jurisdiction of the crime, the case will be prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office,” police said.

The PCSO also said the investigation was a collaborative effort between local, state and federal law enforcement, including the Rapid City Police Department, South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, Bureau of Indian Affairs Missing and Murdered Unit, Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations.

It is not immediately clear whether Chappelle has legal representation to comment on his behalf.

The South Dakota sheriff’s office said that authorities had identified the remains of Sangrait and officially announced that the case was being investigated as a homicide on Wednesday, March 12.

The identification came about a week after a hiker first discovered the remains and reported them to police with a call about a "badly decomposed body" on March 4. Sangrait was first reported missing on Aug. 10, 2024.

According to a post on the South Dakota Missing Persons Alerts Facebook page, Sangrait was last believed to be staying with a friend in Eagle Butte, KOTA-TV reported.

She "left stating that she would be traveling to Box Elder to get some of her things" ahead of a trip to California, and there had been "zero contact" since, per a missing persons flyer.

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After police identified the remains, a GoFundMe was created to raise money for Sangrait’s funeral expenses. It also shared more insight into the “beautiful” Box Elder woman, who “mostly went by” the name Shy.

"Shy is a beautiful, inclusive and mesmerizing spirit,” the fundraiser states. “She entered the world on March 26, 2003, to a slew of misfortune, only to attack it all head-on with a smile on her face.”

“She is intelligent, witty, intuitive, and all around a good spirit to be close to,” the description continues. “We are all so lucky to know her.”

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