RENO, Nev. — A 26-year-old Lake Tahoe man has been charged with murder in the strangulation of a Sparks woman whose body was found near a crashed car on the Mount Rose Highway in the middle of the night in September.

Alexandrew Vail of Kings Beach, California was being held without bail Thursday in the Washoe County Jail in Reno.

He’s accused of killing 27-year-old Emily Giudici on Sept. 15.

The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office says Vail was arrested that day after an off-duty officer noticed a single-vehicle crash on his way home from work just after 2 a.m. on the mountain highway that connects Reno to Lake Tahoe. The officer found Guidici’s body outside the car.

Vail initially was charged with driving under the influence and without a license. The Washoe County Medical Examiner’s Office later ruled the death was a homicide by strangulation.

Vail was charged Wednesday with open murder. It’s not clear if he has a lawyer or will be appointed one at a pending court appearance.