By EMILY R. WEST

Williamson County Sheriff Jeff Long on Friday afternoon announced the arrest of a suspect in the case of a murdered woman found in Bethesda this week.

Long said Page High School graduate Thomas Blake Bruner, 21, was charged with criminal homicide. The woman is identified as Britney Rose Cole, 22, of Wilson County. Authorities took Bruner into custody late Thursday night, after he agreed to come in to the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office for an interview. 

“She is the victim of a homicide by a weapon,” Long said. “I will not comment on the recovery of the weapon. [She] appears to be [shot by a] handgun. We are still waiting on the autopsy report, and I don’t want to say without that report in hand.”

Long said the two had been dating for a time and shared the same Lebanon address on the Wilson-Smith County line along Highway 70. The two had known each other several months.

Two men four-wheeling found the woman late Monday evening. Long said the body had been there between 48 and 72 hours.

“It was on an isolated lane in the wooded area in tall grass,” Long said. “It was a remote area that people other than four-wheelers wouldn’t be in. Once you could see the scene it was apparent.”

Both the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation examined the scene into Tuesday morning.

On Wednesday, authorities released a sketch of the woman. Her family recognized her in the sketch. Family members said they thought Bruner was the last person to have had contact with her. Long said her family didn’t know she was missing until they saw the composite drawing.

“The first 72 hours is the most important in trying to identify the victim and trying to find out who could be developed as a suspect,” Long said. “Who had contact with her. The quicker you can get it, the better it is and that’s the success of this investigation. Within 12 or 15 hours we were interviewing someone.”

Bruner is being held with bond set at $1 million and a court date of Aug. 31 or Sept. 8.

Emily West covers Franklin and Williamson County government and schools for Home Page Media Group. Contact her at emily@franklinhomepage.com. Follow her on Twitter via @emwest22.