Top 10 fugitive captured in Georgia after manhunt tied to woman's death

After a multi-county search, Floyd County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the capture of Drake Ladon Keef, 32, who had been placed on the agency’s Top 10 Most Wanted list. The arrest, carried out with the aid of Bartow County Sheriff’s Office deputies, resulted in Keef’s booking at the Floyd County Jail. He is wanted on warrants for aggravated battery, hit-and-run and driving with a suspended license, charges that investigators say are tied to the death of 35-year-old Stevie Marie Thompson following a late-night incident in Rome, Georgia, between midnight and 1 a.m. on Aug. 22.

Authorities have not released the cause or manner of Thompson’s death, nor clarified whether she and Keef knew each other. The sheriff’s office thanked local residents and deputies for their assistance, while a GoFundMe campaign in Thompson’s memory has collected almost $4,000 of an $8,000 goal to support funeral expenses and her surviving relatives.