Connelly, 39, has been booked on suspicion of first-degree murder and other charges and is in the Douglas County Jail awaiting his first hearing.

Wilcoxen was last seen a week ago, on Sept. 17, the same day that her father, William Way, last saw her. No one reported her missing. Way said it wasn’t unusual for him not to see his daughter for several days. Wilcoxen was staying with her parents “off and on,” he said.

Way and his wife, Mary Jane Way, have been distraught since learning Saturday night that their daughter had been killed.

William Way said two friends identified his daughter’s body. He hasn’t been told much by authorities.

“I have so many questions,” he said. “My wife can’t handle it. She’s very upset, and she has every right to be.”

Authorities think Wilcoxen was abducted from Christie Heights Park, near 36th and Q Streets.

Connelly’s criminal history includes an attempted abduction that’s reminiscent of Wilcoxen’s killing.

On May 18, 2005, Connelly drove next to a female jogger who was running near the Henry Doorly Zoo and ordered her into the car. The woman, 22, sprinted toward a woman in a van for refuge and called police.