Suspect Arrested After Georgia Man Found Dead In Rolled-Up Rug

Police have arrested a person of interest who was wanted for questioning in connection with the mysterious death of a Georgia father whose body was found rolled up in a carpet this month.

Derrick Perkins, 45, was arrested by East Baton Rouge police officers following the death of 42-year-old Nathan Millard, who vanished during a business trip last month, the department confirmed in a Facebook post on March 14. 

Perkins was charged with probation violation, criminal damage to property, three counts of access device fraud and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. He hasn’t been charged in direct connection with causing Millard’s death.

Millard, 42, disappeared on Feb. 23. On March 6, law enforcement discovered his remains inside of a rolled up carpet and wrapped in plastic on Scenic Highway, according to NBC News. His body was severely decomposed. A passerby made the grisly discovery. 

According to authorities, Perkins used Millard’s debit card following his death, per court documents cited by NBC affiliate WVLA of Baton Rouge. Perkins allegedly used the dead man’s debit card to make a trio of purchases at two separate locations. Surveillance footage also corroborated the illegal transactions, authorities said in court papers. 

Prior to Perkins’ arrest, police had issued a plea to the public in assisting in tracking down the wanted fugitive. They’d previously announced he had last been seen driving a Toyota Camry in near South Baton Rouge.

That car, which was reported stolen on Feb. 3, has since been burned, a BRPD spokesperson confirmed to ABC Baton Rouge affiliate WBRZ. 

Derrick Perkins Photo: Baton Rouge Police Department

Last week, Baton Rouge Capt. Kevin Hines told reporters at a news briefing that investigators didn’t suspect foul play in Millard’s death. 

No signs of internal or external trauma were present on Millard’s body, according to the East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner's Office. A cause and manner of death are pending an autopsy. A preliminary autopsy indicated, however, that Millard hadn’t been beaten or struck with an object, ABC affiliate WBRZ reported.

"At this time, we don't have any indication that there was any foul play involved. We are looking into how he ended up where he was," Hines said on Tuesday.

Police are now still piecing together a timeline regarding Millard's movements in the hours leading up to his disappearance. 

Before vanishing, investigators said that Millard attended a Louisiana State University basketball game prior, then went to Happy’s Irish Pub with a client. Millard later went to a Greyhound station. 

At the bus station, he encountered a security guard, according to additional surveillance footage, who offered to get him a ride or phone law enforcement. He declined and later departed the station on his own accord, police said. At the time, Millard "didn’t appear to be in distress.” Millard left the depot around 4:30 a.m. The surveillance footage of him is the last known sighting of him.

No other information was immediately released by authorities.

Perkins is being held at an East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office detention facility, according to online jail records obtained by Oxygen.com. His bond was set at $14,000.