SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan — An Iwakuni Marine has been arrested in connection with the slaying of a 28-year-old Las Vegas woman who disappeared while vacationing with friends in Hawaii last month.
Master Sgt. Nathaniel Cosby, 38, of Jefferson, Ala., was detained Wednesday at Honolulu International Airport.
Ivanice “Ivy” Harris was last seen speaking with an unknown male outside a Waikiki bar on May 16 around 2:15 a.m., officials said. Her body was discovered days later on the Leeward Coast. KOIN 6 News in Portland — where Harris is originally from — reported she was strangled.
Honolulu police confirmed the arrest of a 38-year-old male Thursday. A spokeswoman said he faces a second-degree murder charge.
Cosby is an explosive ordnance disposal technician assigned to Marine Wing Support Squadron-171 at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni and was in Hawaii on a temporary duty assignment, III Marine Expeditionary Force spokesman Lt. Col. David Griesmer wrote in an email to Stars and Stripes. He has been in the Marine Corps since 1998 and has deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan. His last combat tour was in 2011.
“The Marine Corps takes all allegations of misconduct seriously and is fully cooperating with the investigation,” Griesmer said. “Naval Criminal Investigative Service is assisting Honolulu Police in the investigation.”
Friends of Harris told KOIN 6 News that police may have tracked Cosby down through the sale of stolen custom-made jewelry. They also claimed Harris was four weeks pregnant at the time of her death.
