Boyfriend declared suspect in Modesto woman's slaying

MODESTO -- Modesto police on Thursday formally named the boyfriend of a missing woman found dead last week as a suspect in her homicide.

Anthony Coxum was the last person known to have been with his girlfriend, Eldoris Graham, before she went missing in mid-December.

Her body was found buried near the base of a footbridge at Claus Road and Creekwood Drive last week.

Modesto police Sgt. Ivan Valencia said the cause of death has not been released by the coroner's office.

Coxum was arrested in North Carolina on Dec. 27 for an unrelated charge of probation violation.

He remains incarcerated on a 200-day sentence, but it is unknown how much time he will serve, Valencia said. Detectives hope to talk to Coxum before he is released.

The last time they spoke with him, he gave conflicting statements about what he and Graham were doing the day she disappeared.