Two teenagers from Louisiana were arrested and charged after police officers found human remains in a landfill who searched the area for 48 days.

Arizona State University professor Junseok Chae was reported missing on March 25 and his vehicle was found one week later in Louisiana.

Gabrielle Austin and Javian Ezell were arrested and charged in connection with the murder of the professor after the teens, and another person, were caught driving Chae’s car on March 30.

The teens’ statements to authorities led officers to believe the professor had been killed near Carefree Highway and Seventh Street.

Their search at the landfill started on May 11 until the remains were found 48 days later in Northwest Regional Landfill.

The manner of the professor’s death and the motive for his murder have not been revealed. Authorities believed that the body had been thrown in a dumpster before it was moved to the landfill.

The 48-day search cost the sheriff’s office $304,000.

Sheriff Penzone said in a statement: “I continue to be impressed by the hard work of our deputies. Their perseverance in an extremely complex and demanding case will now allow the victim’s family closure to what has surely been a difficult period. Investigative efforts to recover a body from a landfill are rarely successful.”

The teens’ bail was set at $1million each.

Professor Chae was an accomplished academic and educator. He graduated from Korea University in Seoul in 1998 and received two advanced degrees from the University of Michigan. He then joined Arizona State University as a professor in 2005.

“We are saddened by the loss of ASU community member Junseok Chae,” ASU said in a statement. “Our condolences go out to Professor Chae’s family and friends.”

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