An arrest has been made in connection with the murder of a Frederick County man. State Police say Michael A. Stahlnecker, 51, of Crofton was taken into custody Tuesday  just before 6:00 AM at JFK International Airport in New York, as he was getting ready to board a plane. He is charged on a warrant from Anne Arundel County District Court with 1st-degree murder, 2nd-degree murder, 1st-degree assault, 2nd-degree assault, reckless endangerment and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and/or violent crime.

The victim, John P. Ryan, 37, of Frederick, was found in the trunk of his car on the afternoon of December 3rd, 2012 in the 15,000 block of Somerville Drive in Derwood in Montgomery County. He had been shot. Ryan had been reported missing by his wife on November 29th, 2012.

"This investigation actually began when the Frederick County Narcotics Task Force initiated a case based on information about Ryan and associates being involved in the importation and distribution of marijuana," says State Police spokesman Greg Shipley. "Stahlnecker was first identified as a close associate of Ryan in this operation."

State Police say that investigation began in the summer of 2012.

Shipley also says investigators believe Ryan had scheduled a meeting with Stahlnecker on the morning of November 28th, 2012 at a warehouse leased by the suspect in the 3300 block of Laurel Fort Meade Road in Laurel. They believe Ryan was shot at the warehouse and then driven in his car to a parking lot in Derwood in Montgomery County.

State Police say they obtained a search warrant for the warehouse, and recovered Ryan's blood near the loading dock and on the bristles of a broom outside the business.

At this point in time, Stahlnecker remains in custody in New York. "State Police will be working with New York authorities to initiate extradition proceedings to return him to Maryland. But when he's being returned to Maryland is unknown at this time," he says.

State Police say Stahlnecker was apprehended at JFK International Airport by New York/New Jersey Port Authority Police, special agents from ICE Homeland Security Investigations, and the US Marshals Service. Investigators with the Maryland State Police Homicide Unit, the State Apprehension Team, and the Frederick County Narcotics Task Force were on hand at the airport when Stahlnecker was arrested.

The investigation is continuing.