Tennessee authorities announced on Thursday that they'd found the body of Johnny Cash's great-niece, covered in stab wounds and shoved into a box.
According to Putnam County Sheriff David Andrews who spoke with Fox News this week, Courtney Cash's remains were discovered at a home in the 8100 block of Rice Road in Baxter, located around 100 miles east of Nashville on Wednesday morning.
Andrews told reporters Cash's body was stashed in a large chest. Doctors at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville later told police that a man identified as Cash's boyfriend William Austin Johnson received treatment for stab wounds the same day.
According to Andrews' report, the duo went out with an acquaintance prior to an altercation that happened in the home where Cash and Johnson lived with their young daughter, who was home at the time. Johnson reportedly grabbed the child before leaving the house. The daughter did not sustain any injuries in the scuffle, ABC's affiliate station WATE reported.
"There was a struggle," the sheriff confirmed.
The friend, Wayne Gary Masciarella, was charged with first-degree murder, Fox News reported.
Andrews wagered the suspect might have attempted to hide Cash's remains, and that the death might have been drug-related.
These details have not yet been confirmed, however.
"This is a senseless, tragic death of a young lady whose life was probably taken as a direct or indirect result of drugs," Andrews told Fox.
Masciarella, who is due to make his first court appearance on April 21, is currently being held with no bond. It's unclear whether he has a lawyer at this point.
Courtney's grandfather Tommy Cash wrote in an official statement that the family was grieving, and asked for the public to respect their privacy.
"We ask for your prayers for the Cash family at this time," the statement read. "Courtney and her boyfriend are beloved members of my family and like you, we have a lot of questions and emotions that we are beginning to sort through today...We are completely heartbroken."
