Sheriff's investigators find Monterey County homicide suspect in New Mexico.

Dale Dean Pierce was a man of the road, and therefore not an easy man to track down.

Pierce was one of several suspects in the homicide of Remie N. Casillas, a transient known to frequent both Monterey and Santa Cruz counties.

Her remains were unearthed during construction on Aug. 26, 2016, behind the Chevron gas station on Rio Road in unincorporated Carmel, according to a Monterey County Sheriff’s Department press release.

An autopsy revealed she was a victim of homicide, but the Sheriff's Office is not releasing how she was killed, says Cmdr. John Thornburg.

But Pierce—also a transient—proved elusive for more than a year. Originally from Texas, Pierce had contacts all over the U.S., keeping sheriff’s deputies guessing as to his whereabouts.

Then during the last week of November they got a tip that Pierce was in Taos, New Mexico. Sheriff’s homicide investigators flew down Dec. 3 to seek him out.

With the assistance of the Taos Police Department, investigators found Pierce on Dec. 4 in a grocery store parking lot and asked him if he’d be willing to talk. Pierce agreed.

After about a two-hour interview, Pierce confessed to the premeditated murder of Casillas, and even handed over at least one of the weapons used to kill her, the press release states. (The department is not releasing what kind of weapon he relinquished, Thornburg says.)

Pierce was taken into custody on murder charges and lodged at the Taos County Jail, where he currently awaits extradition to Monterey County.