Ontario police detectives searching near a Cactus City rest stop in Riverside County for at least three days say they discovered the bodies of a female and a dog in a shallow grave Friday, which they say appear to be the remains of Julia Jacobson, a San Diego woman who went missing in September, and her dog, Boogie.

The remains were found near Box Canyon Road about two exits from the rest stop, according to Ontario police Sgt. Jeff Higbee.

Autopsies will need to be conducted to confirm their identities.

Dalen Ware, Jacobson’s ex-husband who was arrested and charged in the slaying, led detectives to the area, police said in a news release.

The search began Wednesday and covered approximately 6 square miles in Riverside County south of the 10 Freeway and east of the Cactus City rest area, police said.

With the help of several agencies, including more than 120 personnel from the San Diego Police Department, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department and the U.S. Marshals Pacific Southwest Fugitive Task Force, officials say Jacobson was finally found.

Jacobson, 37, a corporate real estate broker for 7-Eleven who twice deployed to Iraq during her military career, and Boogie went missing Sept. 2 after the veteran told friends she was traveling to Big Bear via the Coachella Valley.

Later that same day, her debit card activity placed her at a gas station in Ontario, according to San Diego and Ontario police.

That night, she texted friends that she was in the Palm Springs area and planned to travel on to Big Bear.

Her car was found five days later, abandoned in the 2600 block of Monroe Avenue in San Diego, a half-mile from her home, with the keys in the ignition and the windows all partially rolled down.

For weeks, San Diego police searched for Jacobson, following up on credible tips that began to flood the office and those forwarded by the family. Eventually, the case was handed over to Ontario police, since she was last seen in the city.

Ontario detectives returned to a major piece of evidence that both agencies agreed could hold more information: Jacobson’s vehicle, which was found a few blocks from her home a few days after she went missing. The keys were in the ignition.

Ontario police detectives did another forensic search of the vehicle and discovered new evidence that resulted in the conclusion Jacobson had been killed.

On Oct. 13, more than a month after her disappearance, Jacobson’s ex-husband, Dalen Larry Ware, 39, was arrested on suspicion of murder in Arizona with help from the Phoenix police and the FBI’s Violent Crime Task Force.

He was brought back to California in late October and pleaded not guilty to murder charges Nov. 6 in West Valley Superior Court in Rancho Cucamonga.

Ware remains held on $1 million bail at the Adelanto Detention Center and is due in a Rancho Cucamonga courtroom next month.

A friend said the couple was married for only about a year. There was evidence that Ware and Jacobson may have still been seeing each other, although family told investigators their relationship was strictly platonic.

City News Service contributed to this story.