Just days before Tara Ord Sidorovich's 31st birthday, authorities made an arrest and began a nationwide manhunt for another suspect in the 2001 Florida murder of the Scranton native.
"I'm very happy - and sad," Sharon Ord McPhillips, Tara's mother, said Monday in a phone conversation from Florida. "I am relieved. The main goal is justice for Tara."
Ms. McPhillips said her daughter, who was born in Scranton and graduated from West Scranton High School, would have turned 31 on Tuesday .
"I'd rather give her a hug and a kiss," said Ms. McPhillips, a Scranton resident. "I guess this is the best birthday present she can have, under the circumstances.
The sheriff's department in Charlotte County, Fla., on Monday reported that two men who have long been suspects in the case, Phillip Barr and David McMannis, are charged with first-degree murder.
Ms. Sidarovich was reported missing from her home in Punta Gorda, Fla., in October 2001. Her skeletal remains were found in July 2002, in a wooded area in Charlotte County. Punta Gorda is about 50 miles south of Sarasota, along Florida's Gulf Coast.
Mr. McMannis, 39, was captured Friday in Cumberland, Md., and is awaiting extradition to Florida, authorities reported.
Deputies said the whereabouts of Mr. Barr, 43, were unknown, but a search was under way.
Ms. McPhillips said the arrests brought about a mix of emotions after many years of investigations without results.
"I just want family and friends to know that we are at the first step for justice for Tara," she said. "I know we still have a long road ahead, but we are going to get through it."
Contact the writer: jhaggerty@timesshamrock.com