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Ex-Boyfriend Charged With Murder Of Bucks County Woman Missing Since Dec.

LEVITTOWN, Pa. (CBS) - As expected, authorities in Bucks County have now filed first-degree murder charges against a man accused of kidnapping his former girlfriend from her Falls Township apartment last December (see previous story).

It's been nearly three months since Diane Corado disappeared from her Levittown apartment. Authorities believe the 57-year-old woman is dead, murdered at the hands of her 48-year-old ex-boyfriend, Kenneth Patterson.

Authorities believe they have enough evidence to file the murder charges even though they don't have a body.

Bucks County district attorney Michelle Henry says they have good reason to believe Corado is dead.

"Nobody has heard from her, she hasn't been to work, she hasn't contacted her family, she hasn't used any of her credit cards, she hasn't been back to her apartment," Henry said today.

Police believe Patterson beat Corado with a pipe and then kidnapped her.  He was later arrested at a Maple Shade, NJ motel.

Patterson remains behind bars without bail facing a preliminary hearing on Monday. Henry says her office is still deciding whether to pursue the death penalty.

Reported by Brad Segall, KYW Newsradio 1060.

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