Gravedigger 'shoots dead and buries his 24-year-old wife and mother of four at the cemetery where he worked'

A Covington man suspected of killing his wife has been arrested in North Carolina, according to investigators.

Alleghany County Sheriff Kevin Hall said that Adan Quiroz “Manuel” Rodriguez, 29, was apprehended by U.S. Marshals in a house in Pineville, N.C., a town south of Charlotte, early Thursday morning.

The Alleghany County Sheriff’s Office issued a warrant for his arrest on first-degree murder charges after Ashley Kimberlin Rodriguez, his 24-year-old wife, was found dead in a cemetery on May 13.

Hall said Manuel Rodriguez left the area after speaking with investigators that morning. Ashley Rodriguez’s body was found in the cemetery later that evening.

Manuel Rodriguez worked at the cemetery, Alleghany Memorial Park. His wife’s body was found partially buried in an area accessible only to employees.

Multiple agencies were involved in the search for Manuel Rodriguez, focusing on his pickup truck, a 2001 green and tan Ford F-150. Hall said the truck was found about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday , and Rodriguez
was arrested by 12:30 a.m. Thursday.

Hall said the suspect had a small self-inflicted wound on his neck.

He is being held in the Mecklenburg County Jail in North Carolina, Hall said, and investigators from the sheriff’s office and the Virginia State Police were traveling to interview him.

Hall said Ashley Rodriguez’s family was notified of Manuel Rodriguez’s arrest Thursday. The couple had four daughters, the youngest of whom is 7 months old. They are staying with Ashley Rodriguez’s mother.