YORK COUNTY, Pa.–A man has been extradited from Maryland to York County, where he will face homicide charges in the 2016 strangling death of a Red Lion woman.
Michael A. Morant, 49, is charged with criminal homicide. He was arraigned on May 24 and taken to York County Prison without bail.
Morant is accused of killing his girlfriend, Rebekah Strausbaugh, on June 24 following an argument and then dumping her body along Interstate 83 in Maryland.
Strausbaugh was reported missing by her sister-in-law on June 26. The next day, Morant led police to her body, which was found in a wooded area along I-83 in Baltimore County.
Morant claimed the pair had been fighting during a trip to Baltimore when he pulled off to the side of the road and pushed Strausbaugh, causing her to fall and hit her head, according to the criminal complaint. Morant told police he left the scene after moving her body to a secluded area near Ensor Mill Road.
An autopsy conducted by the Baltimore County Medical Examiner showed Strausbaugh was strangled, and that she did not have injuries consistent with a fall.
Morant was initially being prosecuted in Baltimore County. However, after consulting with the York County District Attorney’s office–authorities decided the case should come back to Pennsylvania to be prosecuted here.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 22.
