MONCTON, N.B. -- A public tip led police to a fugitive New Brunswick murder suspect known for altering her appearance, RCMP said Tuesday.
After a two-and-a-half-month search, RCMP said they arrested 20-year-old Marissa Shephard at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday in Moncton.
"She was located at the intersection of Shediac Road and the Lewisville Road in Moncton. She was accompanied by two other people -- a man and a woman -- who were also arrested," said Const. Jullie Rogers-Marsh.
Eyewitnesses described a moment of drama outside a Comfort Inn during an otherwise routine lunch hour.
"There was quite a commotion," said Geraldine McGraw, who works at an antiques store across the street. "There were police cars and a van."
Rogers-Marsh said the arrest went without incident.
Shephard was wanted on a Canada-wide warrant for first degree murder and arson in the Dec. 17 death of 18-year-old Baylee Wylie, whose body was found in a burned-out triplex about a kilometre from where Shephard was arrested.
Rogers-Marsh wouldn't give more details on the tip police received. All three people arrested Tuesday are due in the Moncton courts Wednesday morning.
"We certainly appreciate the help that we've gotten all along during the investigation. The public's help has led to locate and arrest her," Rogers-Marsh said.
"The investigation will determine if there's more charges."
Family members had said they believed Shephard was likely dead.
Police had issued numerous pictures of Shephard and even produced a YouTube video in January that included nine new photos. Most were selfies showing Shephard in a wide range of appearances.
Online photos posted by friends and family variously depict Shephard in pouting glamour poses, as a content mother of a young boy, as a haggard suspect and as a wannabe gangster. One widely distributed photo shows a young woman posing with a gun.
Police said Shephard was considered dangerous due to the violent nature of the crime.
Several other young people had earlier been arrested in connection with the crime.
Days after the Moncton blaze, 18-year-old Devin Morningstar was charged with first-degree murder and arson.
Tyler Noel, 18, was arrested on a Canada-wide warrant Jan. 9, in Petitcodiac, N.B., after a report of a break and enter at a cottage in Elgin, N.B. The Moncton man has also been charged with first-degree murder and arson.
Two other young men were arrested with Noel.
Police say 18-year-old Zachary Holden of Moncton faces charges of accessory after the fact to murder and unlawfully being in a dwelling, flight from police and dangerous driving.
Twenty-year-old Bradley John Bonnell, of Wheaton Settlement, has been charged with accessory after the fact to murder and unlawfully being in a dwelling.
