Jerry M. Shirk, 19, had been reported missing two weeks ago when on June 17, phone company workers found his body on Powell Road in the Castle Rock area of Cowlitz County.

Shirk had been beaten to death and investigators say his body had been along the road for several weeks before it was found.

Detectives have now arrested Shirk's 21-year-old roommate, who is suspected of murdering him and dumping the body along a road in Southwest Washington.

Matt Fillmore reportedly admitted to detectives that he beat Shirk to death with a baseball bat after the two argued over money back on May 29.

According to court documents, Fillmore had duped Shirk into cashing a forged check and Shirk was about to tell the police. Detectives believe Fillmore then attacked Shirk at the home they shared in Pierce County.

Investigators searched the home for evidence late Monday night. They said Fillmore cleaned the carpet, but the blood had seeped all the way into the floorboards.

"I never imagined my boy was going to go, and what a terrible way to go," said Sherry Query, Shirk's mother. "We are suffering so bad. I've missed him for three weeks."

Shirk's family reported him missing on June 2 but because he cashed a forged check, detectives initially believed he may have gone on the run.

"No, he wasn't hiding. He was dead in a ditch for three damn weeks," said Query.

Police believe Shirk met Fillmore at a church they both attended, and believed Fillmore was someone he could trust.

Fillmore pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. He's being held on $1 million bail.