Florida Fugitive Caught Near Delk Road

When a stolen vehicle driven by a Florida man broke down Monday night on Interstate 75 in Cobb County, his luck eluding authorities back home ran out. 

Marietta Police have detained Thomas Heath, 34, whom law enforcement officials in Orange County, Fla., want to question in connection with the kidnapping and death of an Ocoee, Fla., man. Heath has been charged with grand theft auto.

Jay Stone, 30, a custodian at Walt Disney World, was found dead in his apartment Saturday, according to Orlando TV station WESH, which also reported that Heath and his family had befriended and moved in with the victim earlier this month. 

According to a statement issued by Marietta Police, the vehicle carrying Heath, his wife and their two young children broke down on Interstate 75 near Delk Road around 8:30 p.m. Monday and was impounded by police.

Police said the family went to a McDonald's restaurant near the intersection, and that Heath's wife and children, both toddlers, were able to get away from him and fled to a nearby Ramada Inn on Delk Road.

Heath's wife then contacted police, who searched the area and apprehended Heath near the motel without incident. She told Marietta Police she and her children were kidnapped by her husband and held at knife point during the trip from Florida.

The WESH report said that Heath's wife, Shanna, is cooperating with Orange County police who arrived in Cobb. 

The Orlando Sentinel reported that Heath is on probation for a theft conviction in Tennessee. 

Orange County authorities have not said how Stone died.