UPDATE: Murder suspect arrested after body discovered on Franklin County beach

A 39-year-old Pasco man is in jail on suspicion of murder, and family and friends say it's for the killing of a woman who has been missing since May.

Police officials haven't confirmed that Florentio Jai Castillo's arrest for second-degree murder is connected to the discovery of skeletal remains on a Franklin County beach

But family and friends of Michelle Hudnall have taken to Facebook, linking the two.

In particular, family friend Joedie Hosley posted on Facebook that Castillo had been locked up.

Hudnall, 40, was a mother of four. She lived in Richland.

Castillo was booked into the Franklin County jail at 3:14 p.m. Friday. He is being held without bail, a jail official said.

It is not known how the two might have known each other.

Castillo is a career criminal who appears to have been in custody as recently as Thursday morning. Details on that sentence were not available Friday evening.

Online records and Herald archives show he has convictions for assault, drugs and burglary dating back to 1997.

Hudnall was last seen on May 14. Her van was later found abandoned on Road 68 with the keys inside.

Family members became concerned when she didn't contact her sons before they went to stay with their dad in California.

"She hasn't been seen, nor did she have her needed medication with her," family wrote on a missing poster. "This is not in her character."

Family and friends said police told them Hudnall's remains were discovered near Carbody Beach late Thursday.

Law enforcement and the Franklin County Coroner's Office would not confirm if there was any truth to the family's claims.

The coroner's office said the remains are too decomposed to determine who they belong to.

The skeletal remains were discovered near Carbody Beach by people walking around 9 p.m. Thursday.

Franklin sheriff's deputies, Pasco police and Benton County sheriff's investigators, along with Washington State Patrol crime lab personnel, were at the scene throughout Friday.

The body appears to have floated up to the beach, said Franklin County Coroner Dan Blasdel. A forensic anthropologist will reconstruct the body and look for identifying marks.

Carbody Beach is located near the end of Columbia River Road, across from Johnson Island. People typically access the area by a dirt road or boat.

Deputies closed the area after the body was discovered, said Sheriff Jim Raymond.

This story was originally published July 6, 2018 at 10:43 AM.