Man Sought in Virginia Campground Murder Arrested in Paterson, NJ

A man was arrested early Monday in Paterson and charged with the murder of a woman whose body had been found at a Virginia campground.

Fairfax County, VA, police said Cara Abbruscato, 40, of Fairfax, was found dead inside a makeshift tent at Burke Lake Park on Saturday afternoon.

Another group of campers with a reservation to use the same spot in the public park arrived and reported the tent, which was actually a tarp tied to a tree, according to police.

Camp employees called the police who looked inside and found Abbruscato's body with cuts and stab wounds to the upper body. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Makeshift tent used by Rami El Sayed and Cara Abbruscato in a Virginia park (Fairfax County, Virginia Police Department)

Living in the same tent at a Virginia park

Abbruscato and El Sayed knew each other for a short time, officials said.

Video surveillance captured images of them coming and going from the tent several times between Sept. 19 and Sept. 30.

Abbruscato had been reported missing and endangered at the beginning of September but was found safe, according to police. Another camper in the park told NBC Washington she was charged with drug possession a short time later.

Arrest in New Jersey

El Sayd was stopped in Paterson during a traffic stop in Abbruscato's car on Saturday, officials said.

He was taken into custody by Paterson police and charged with second-degree murder. He is awaiting extradition back to Virginia.

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