By MOLLY DAVIDSON / Staff Writer

LEEDS—The Leeds Police Department announced a murder warrant has been obtained for a Chelsea woman in the July murder of a 22-year-old Harpersville man.

Candie Renee Zito, 31, of Chelsea, has been charged with the death of Harpersville resident Anthony Shane Gibson.

Gibson was reported missing on July 2, he was last seen driving a 1998 white Ford Escort. On Sunday, July 5, his badly burned body was discovered in the woods north of Interstate 20 in Leeds by a group of people riding four-wheelers.

Due to the severity of the burns, Gibson’s body was not identified until the evening of July 7.

The Leeds Police Department announced Zito was a person of interest in the murder on July 8.

“The investigation developed evidence that the murder took place at Zito’s parents’ home in Chelsea and Gibson’s body (was) dumped and burned in Leeds,” an Oct. 22 news release from the Leeds Police Department read. “Zito was determined to be a person of interest early in the investigation and fled the state.”

Zito was apprehended by the Davees County, Ind., Sheriff’s Office on July 11 after a high speed chase that ended in a traffic accident. At the time of her arrest, Zito was driving the 1998 white Ford Escort Gibson was seen driving before his disappearance.

At the time of her arrest, Zito was in the car with her cousin, Corey Lane Zito, 26, of New Iberia, La. Corey Lane Zito was arrested and transported to the Shelby County Jail where he is being held on a felony theft of property charge.

Candie Renee Zito is currently in the Daviess County, Ind., Jail on charges of resisting arrest and interfering with police and theft of a vehicle. She is awaiting return to Alabama.

Both Candie Renee and Corey Lane Zito had outstanding felony charges in Louisiana at the time of Gibson’s murder, the news release said.

Candie Renee Zito has been charged with murder and will be held on a $1 million bond.

“Leeds Police would like to thank the Daviess County, Ind., Sheriff’s Office, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office for their outstanding assistance in this investigation,” the news release read.