PLANO - A high-angle rescue team was brought in to pull the suspect in the murder of a Frisco woman to safety after authorities said he made a 25-foot jump while trying to flee from rangers in Grand Canyon, Arizona.
Forty-eight-year-old Terrance Deering Black, who was named as a suspect in the murder of Susan Loper, was spotted by park rangers after a report of a man panhandling early Friday afternoon at the Grand Canyon National Park, read a statement released by a spokeswoman with the park.
When rangers approached a man at the site of the call, he refused to show identification, attempted to flee and then made the jump over a 25-foot edge, the statement read. The man, who was later identified as Black, was pulled to safety and then transported to a hospital to be treated for his injuries. Once released, he will remain in custody in Arizona until Texas Rangers arrive and transport him back to North Texas.
Authorities said the suspect's Escalade was impounded and will be searched for more evidence in connection to the case.
Loper's body was found Wednesday in a wooded area in Frisco. Black is a former boyfriend of the victim.
His name has come up several times as part of our investigation, said Rick McDonald, a spokesman with the Plano Police Department. ... He had been one of our suspects we have been looking at all along.
Loper, 40, went missing from her workplace at the Gleneagles Country Club in Plano early Tuesday morning. Police said signs of a struggle were found in the room in which she taught fitness classes.
Loper's body was found the next day on Wednesday by a police officer.
WFAA's Monika Diaz, Steve Stoler and WFAA.com's Marjorie Owens contributed to this report
