Woman found dead at Leander home identified by TCSO

The Travis County Sheriff's Office identified the woman found dead at a Leander home on Nov. 2.

TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — The Travis County Sheriff's Office identified the woman found dead at a Leander home on Nov. 2.

The woman was buried beneath a burn pit at a home in the 23000 block of Windy Valley Road. TSCO said the woman is 36-year-old Natalie Renee Pearce of Austin.

Peter Perius, 52, is in custody on a driving without a license charge and a tamper/fabricate physical evidence with intent to impact a human corpse charge. KXAN previously reached out to his attorney. We will update this story if a response is received.

According to an arrest affidavit, a relative of Perius called TCSO Dispatch and “stated she had information about a murder” at the home in northwest Travis County.

Perius had picked up an unidentified woman near Rundberg Lane in Austin and brought her to his house to get high, per the affidavit. Another relative said Perius was a methamphetamine user and hurt women while high.

During an interview with police, Perius denied killing anyone. He said the last woman at his home wasn’t the victim and she had visited two weeks ago per the affidavit.