JACKSON COUNTY, Fla. (WJHG/Gray News) — A nationwide search for a murder suspect ended Thursday when she was arrested in Florida.
The Walton County Sheriff’s Office said Isabelle Johnson, 38, is charged with the murder of Jason Coulthart, 43. His body was found buried in a shallow grave on a property in Freeport, Florida, in June.
Investigators identified Johnson as the suspect and issued a warrant for her arrest.
A search for Isabelle Johnson, 38, ended Thursday when she was arrested in Florida.(Walton County Sheriff’s Office)
The sheriff’s office said Johnson is known to use multiple identities and names, including Harley, Jessica Elaine Bowman, Jessica Elaine Thrush, Jessica Elaine Thrash, Jessica Dowdy and possibly Denise.
Deputies also said Johnson frequently moved and often convinced others to help her by telling sympathetic stories involving domestic violence or other personal hardships.
Investigators believe Johnson may have recently dyed and cut her hair to alter her appearance while on the run.
“She’s a monster, not a beast,” the sheriff’s office wrote in a Facebook post.
Investigators said a tip this week indicated Johnson had been communicating with someone, which led to a digital search warrant and the identification of an IP address that pinpointed her location in Cottondale.
Johnson was taken into custody in Cottondale, where she was found wearing a shirt that read “Force to be Reckoned With.”
“From that, we are hoping to learn more information about where she had been. We still have some gaps. We have a 45-ish day gap of when we execute a search warrant, and she has been on the run, so we want to find out all the details,” said Walton County Chief Deputy Dustin Cosson.
The Walton County Sheriff’s Office said it is continuing to investigate who helped Johnson while she was on the run. Five people have already been arrested and face charges of accessory after the fact to a capital felony.
Johnson is currently held in the Jackson County Jail and will be extradited to Walton County on Friday.
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