Associated Press

BILLINGS, Mont. — A body found buried in North Dakota was identified Thursday as a Montana high school teacher who was abducted while jogging more than two months ago, the FBI said.

The remains of 43-year-old Sherry Arnold were recovered Wednesday near Williston, N.D., about 50 miles northeast of Sidney, the Montana town where she worked.

Suspects Michael Spell, 22, and former Sebastian resident Lester Van Waters Jr., 48, have pleaded not guilty to aggravated kidnapping in the case and await trial.

The FBI declined to disclose details on where the body was found or what led them to the site. Authorities previously said one of the suspects tried to lead FBI agents to the site in past weeks but failed.

Confirmation the remains found Wednesday were those of Arnold came after the body was taken to the Montana State Crime Lab in Missoula. An autopsy was planned.

The discovery of the remains across state lines from the scene of the kidnapping means federal charges could be filed against Spell and Waters.

The state charges against Spell and Waters can carry a potential death penalty if a victim is not released unharmed. A similar federal charge could also carry a death penalty upon conviction.

Waters, formerly of the 400 block of Seaside Terrace, Sebastian, had a long history of arrests in Indian River, Brevard and Osceola counties.

Waters was released from state prison in August 2010 for violation of probation of Indian River County traffic cases including DUI, state records show. Waters has been charged with various drug offenses, burglary, forgery, disorderly conduct, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and other crimes dating to 1986, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Court documents filed by the prosecutor in the case indicate Spell acknowledged his role in what an affidavit described as the crack-fueled abduction and killing of Arnold.

Spell told investigators he pulled her into a car and Waters choked her to death by before they buried her in a shallow grave on a farmstead near Williston.

Farmers and other property owners were alerted by the FBI to be on the lookout for stirred up plots of ground or grass that might conceal a grave.