The disappearance of a North Carolina woman, missing since last year, has taken a dark and sinister turn in the last two weeks, after the arrest of not only her ex-boyfriend but also his ex-wife. According to multiple reports, police in Holly Springs believe Brian Sluss, 44, killed Monica Moynan, 23, weeks or even months before she was reported missing in July 2019. Then, he called upon his ex-wife, Jarlyn Sluss, to help him escape the area.
At the time of her death, Moynan was a mother of two and was believed to be pregnant with Sluss's child.
In fact, the pregnancy is what investigators think played a large role in her presumed murder. Authorities have yet to find her body.
Just when exactly Moynan disappeared remains unclear, but her mother, Melanie Tucker, told investigators that she last heard from her daughter on the phone in April 2019 — some four months before she was reported missing, People reported.
As for why it took so long for her disappearance to be reported? Police say Sluss texted friends and family members for months from Moynan's phone.
In the process, they allege that he delayed an investigation and created a web of deception about her whereabouts. Although Brian Sluss had apparently remained a suspect for some time, police had difficulty pressing charges without a body.
"There's a lot of evidence surrounding remains," Holly Springs Police Chief John Herring told reporters this week. "And we didn't have that, so that definitely presented some additional challenges going forward with the investigation."
It appears that finally changed May 6, when police arrested Brian Sluss and charged him with murder.
Sluss was apprehended at his parent's home in Bluefield, Virginia, before being extradited and booked at Wake County Jail in North Carolina, according to ABC 11.
In addition to using Moynan's phone after she disappeared, investigators discovered that Brian Sluss had also been driving her car. At the time, he claimed it was merely to transport their children, because she had the only vehicle with car seats. He also claimed that he only used Moynan's phone to text her family because he didn't know how to break it to them that she'd disappeared.
As for why she disappeared? Sluss had a tale about that one, too. He told police that the 23-year-old mother had recently become addicted to drugs and had taken off around June 20. The last he heard from her was via text, he said — when she told him she "couldn't do it anymore."
That version of events never sat well with Moynan's family.
They believe this wasn't a case of a drug-addicted mother running off from her kids but another harsh example of domestic violence.
In fact, her mother told police that Brian Sluss was abusive toward her daughter and had a habit of lying. She also claimed that her daughter was trying to move on with her life and establish a positive upbringing for her children, but that Sluss made it impossible and continued to stalk her.
Just days after Brian Sluss's arrest, his ex-wife Jarlyn Sluss was arrested May 12.
"We believe that one of the things that she did was assist and aid him in fleeing the area after [Moynan's] disappearance was reported to us and then," the police chief said Tuesday. "In addition, we believe that she assisted in creating the deception that Monica was still alive."
According to arrest warrants obtained by CBS 17, Jarlyn may have impersonated Moynan on at least one occasion over the phone to set up a meeting with an apartment manager, and a text exchange between her and Sluss revealed that she asked him if Moynan's body would ever be found. His response? "No."
The pair is also believed to have rekindled their relationship sometime in the last year, which likely contributed to Jarlyn Sluss's involvement.
With both suspects in custody, Moynan's family is breathing a sigh of relief.
But they're also hoping justice will be reached in the name of their beloved Monica.
"Jarlyn Sluss had several months to contact us or the [Holly Springs Police Department] with any information that could have alerted us sooner that something had happened to Monica," read a statement given by Melanie Tucker to ABC 11.
"She knew something, but instead of coming forward, she chose to help him which included impersonating Monica as also stated in warrants," the statement continued. "And this is just what we know. Ten months later, she has continued to withhold. Justice will now be served."
