PLANTATION KEY, Fla. – A 32-year-old man from Castle Rock, Colorado, who is wanted in the death of his own mother was captured early Tuesday morning by Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputies.
Adam Linhardt, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office, said Matthew Harless Buchanan was found at a gas station on Plantation Key.
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He is currently in jail and is expected to be returned to Colorado to face multiple charges, including murder and arson.
According to Linhardt, the sheriff’s office received a tip around 3 a.m. Tuesday that a white Dodge Caravan that Buchanan was traveling in was in Monroe County.
He said a be-on-the-lookout alert was issued and the van was found shortly thereafter at a 7-Eleven.
Buchanan was detained and a 50-year-old woman from Daytona Beach who was also in the van was released, Linhardt confirmed.
According to news outlets in Colorado, Buchanan is accused of killing his mother, Elizabeth Bjorlow, 59, exactly a week ago on April 26.
News outlets reported that she died in a house fire that Buchanan is alleged to have started.
One other person was hospitalized after the fire, but is expected to survive.
No other homes were damaged.
According to local news outlets, Buchanan has been diagnosed as “severely bipolar,” and his mother had filed a restraining order against him last July.