A 49-year-old Sweetwater man today was arrested today in a 1987 Louisiana rape case, according to a news release.

Tommy Ray Gurley, of 207 County Road 314 in Sweetwater, is charged in connection with the case in Louisiana, but the arrest could lead to other charges in states across the south, McMinn County Sheriff Joe Guy said in the release.

"On Jan. 27, St. Tammany Sheriff's Office detectives contacted the TBI with information that the suspect in the 24-year-old rape case might be residing in McMinn or Monroe County," Guy said.

When Gurley's DNA was entered into a national database in a 2008 arrest in North Carolina, St. Tammany Parish authorities were informed of a match, he said.

Louisiana authorities got a tip that Gurley might be in McMinn County.

Gurley is being held on a fugitive from justice warrant at the McMinn County Justice Center and is awaiting extradition to Louisiana.

For complete details, see tomorrow's Times Free Press.