CENTRE — The initial suspect in the death of a Cedar Bluff woman has been accused of her murder, officials announced last week.

Vinnie Leroy Keaton was formally charged Dec. 3 with the murder of Melissa Leann Hudgins, 32, whose body was found Nov. 28 in a storage room on the campus of Gadsden State Cherokee in Centre.

On Nov. 30, Keaton surrendered without incident to authorities in Sequatchie County, Tenn., following a two-day man hunt. Members of the Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force tracked Keaton to a location in Cookeville, Tenn. after a Pontiac Grand Am registered to Hudgins was found abandoned along the roadside near Dunlap, Tenn.

Officials in Tennessee traced the vehicle back to Hudgins and learned she had been reported missing. A subsequent search of the vehicle and its immediate surroundings yielded Keaton's ID, Hudgins' credit cards and her cell phone, the Anniston Star reported Dec. 4.

Keaton was transferred back to Centre Nov. 30 and has been held in the Cherokee County Detention Center since. Sheriff Jeff Shaver told The Post that Keaton's bail was set at $250,000 in cash for the murder charge and $80,000 in cash for the charge of car theft.

O'Dell said investigators from his office and the Centre Police Department are working a trail of evidence that leads from Florida to Tennessee. O’Dell said his office is still awaiting the results of a preliminary autopsy report.

On Friday afternoon, Centre Police Chief Kirk Blankenship confirmed that two of his officers were in Florida, accompanied by an investigator from O’Dell’s office, “collecting statements and evidence” that may be related to the case against Keaton.