A man long suspected of having a role in the death of a San Diego State student missing since 2007 was charged with multiple criminal counts Tuesday in connection to her case.
Donna Jou, 19, was last seen in June 2007. Her body has never been found.
On Tuesday, prosecutors in Los Angeles announced they had charged John Steven Burgess, 36, with one count each of involuntary manslaughter, sale or transportation of heroin and sale or transportation of cocaine. He was also charged with a misdemeanor count of concealment of an accidental death.
Burgess has been in custody since July 2007, when he was arrested in Jacksonville, Fla., on a California warrant for failing to register as a sex offender and possession of crack cocaine.
Burgess allegedly picked up Jou at an Orange County apartment and took her to a party in West Los Angeles on June 23.
A tool box Burgess had in his truck was found two weeks later in the street about a mile from his house. It contained a motorcycle helmet. Jou was seen on the back of Burgess' motorcycle wearing a helmet he had supplied to her. She reportedly met Burgess online through an ad she placed looking for work as a math tutor.
In October 2007, Burgess pleaded no contest to three counts of failing to register as a sex offender and was sentenced to three years in state prison.
