Remains of missing Army vet, dog found in shallow grave, police say

ONTARIO, Calif. -- Authorities in Southern California believe they've found the remains of a retired Army captain who went missing in September.

Police in the city of Ontario say Friday that they found the remains of Julia Jacobson and her dog in a shallow grave.

Investigators say her remains were found after a tip from her ex-husband, Dalen Ware, of Phoenix. He was arrested in October on suspicion of murder in connection with her death. 

Investigators have not disclosed a motive for the killing. 

Jacobson was reported missing to San Diego police on Sept. 2, CBS Los Angeles reports. Her car was found abandoned in San Diego five days later. The investigation eventually led San Diego police detectives to Ontario, where it was determined she had been last seen on the same day she was reported missing, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper.  

A forensic analysis of her car and other evidence soon convinced detectives that she had been murdered, Ontario police Detective Melissa Ramirez told CBS affiliate KFMB. Officials have declined to reveal the nature of those findings.

This week, based at least in part on information provided by Jacobson's suspected killer, more than 120 police personnel from Ontario, San Bernardino, San Diego and Riverside began scouring a six-square-mile expanse of rugged open territory south of I-10.

A cadaver dog alerted a deputy to the gravesite about 10:30 a.m., said Cpl. Fred Alvarez of the Ontario Police Department.

The 37-year-old was an Army veteran who had served two tours in Iraq. Jacobson filed for divorce from Ware in 2016 citing "irreconcilable differences," according to the newspaper, according to CBS Los Angeles.