Doug Stanglin

USA TODAY

A Virginia man arrested in Texas in connection with the disappearance of a University of Virginia student told a Galveston court early Thursday that he will not fight extradition to face charges of abduction with intent to defile.

"The extradition process is underway," said Charlottesville Police Chief Tim Longo. He said officers were en route to Texas Thursday.

Jesse Matthew, 32, a nursing assistant at the University of Virginia Hospital, is believed to be the last person to have been with Hannah Graham, 18, before she vanished on Sept. 13.

He was arrested Wednesday on a beach in Galveston, 1,200 miles from Charlottesville, on a warrant issued after police searched his home and car.

Longo said an intense search for Graham continues.

"This case is nowhere near over," the police chief said late Wednesday. "We have a person in custody but there's a long road ahead of us and that long road includes finding Hannah Graham."

Matthew is seen on two surveillance videos with Graham the night that she went missing. Police said they have reason to believe Graham got into Matthew's car.

After removing clothes from the car and Matthew's apartment for DNA testing, police had released a wanted poster for him and issued a warrant for his arrest.

According to documents released at Matthew's hearing Thursday in Galveston, a deputy arrested him after responding to a suspicious person call and found the suspect, who had pitched a tent on the beach with a car nearby, The Galveston (County) Daily Newsreports.

The deputy said in his report that Matthew initially claimed he didn't have identification and gave another name, the newspaper reports. The officer then checked his car's plates and confirmed the suspect was wanted in connection with Graham's disappearance.

"The hero of today is an employee, a deputy with the Galveston County Sheriff's Office," FBI Special Agent Adam Lee said.

Matthew attended Liberty University from 2000 to 2002, said officials with the Lynchburg school, which was founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell. The school's athletics website listed him as a defensive lineman on the football team.

More recently, he also served as a part-time volunteer for the football team at The Covenant School, a private Christian pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade school in Charlottesville. Officials said his involvement with the school began last month following interviews with the athletic director and head football coach, as well as normal background and reference checks.

After Matthew was named a person of interest in Graham's disappearance, school officials said in a letter that he will "no longer be working with our football program while this matter is being clarified and resolved."

Before Hannah Graham disappeared

What police know about the hours before Hannah Graham disappeared from Charlottesville, Va., near the University of Virginia campus, come mostly from businesses' surveillance cameras. A map locates the places in this timeline.

Sept. 12

1. 9:30 p.m.ET. Graham is captured on Camden Plaza Apartments surveillance video in a hallway a few blocks away from the GrandMarc apartments (1) where she lives.

2. 11:50 p.m. Graham's friends meet her at Camden Plaza Apartments on 14th Street Northwest. It is the last time they see her.

Sept. 13

3. 12:46 a.m. Graham is captured on surveillance video at McGrady's Pub on Grady Avenue. Police say she was having a conversation with a man and appeared drunk.

4. 1 a.m. Graham is captured on surveillance video at a Shell gas station on Preston Avenue across railroad tracks from her apartment and the U.Va. campus. She's seen running then walking.

5. 1:06 a.m. Graham is captured on surveillance video at Sal's Pizza on East Main Street. A white man walks into the camera's view, looks over his shoulder then steps into a doorway. Graham walks past him and then he starts walking behind her. He later came to police and told them he was following Graham because she seemed distressed and he wanted to make sure she was safe.

6. 1:08 a.m. Graham is captured on surveillance video at Tuel's Jewelers on East Main Street. The video shows the man walking some distance behind her.

7. After 1:08 a.m. Graham and a man with dreadlocks enter Tempo Restaurant & Bar on Fifth Street Southeast. He buys alcohol, they stay 15 minutes and leave together.

• 1:20 a.m. Graham texts friends, "I'm coming to a party...but I'm lost." It was the last time she had contact with anyone. If her phone pinpointed her location, police have not released the information, and police did not clarify whether the text was sent before or after leaving the bar.

On Sept. 19, police receive a warrant to search a car and condo (8) about 3 miles northwest from where Graham was last seen.

Contributing: WUSA-TV, Washington, D.C.