PROVIDENCE –– The white Ford Taurus that Jeannine Garcia loved became the clue that led the police Sunday to arrest the man suspected of her murder.

The 32-year-old woman had just bought the 17-year-old sedan a few weeks ago, friends said, and was proud of her new car.

Early Sunday morning, her car was seen weaving and speeding on a highway just outside of New Haven, Conn., with a stranger at the wheel, said Providence Capt. James Desmarais.

A Connecticut state trooper tried to stop the car, but the driver swerved and sped off, Desmarais said. After the trooper broadcast a description of the fleeing car, a police officer in Clinton saw the Taurus and gave chase, Desmarais said.

The car sped away –– and crashed into a parked tractor-trailer, Desmarais said.

The driver was 18-year-old Travis Garcia, who was at the hospital when he told the Clinton police that the Taurus belonged to his girlfriend, Jeannine Garcia, Desmarais said. The Clinton police asked the Providence police to check on Ms. Garcia.

Just after 4 a.m., the officers found the woman dead in her bedroom at the Cathedral Square Apartments, apparently strangled sometime on Saturday, Desmarais said.

An arrest warrant was signed for Garcia Monday afternoon, charging him with Ms. Garcia’s murder. He was also arraigned in Middletown (Conn.) District Court and held in lieu of $1 million bond on charges of disobeying an officer, engaging in pursuit, reckless driving, speeding more than 85 mph and larceny. Clinton Police Chief Joseph P. Faughnan said Garcia was turned over to the judicial marshals pending the arrival of the warrant from Providence.

Travis Garcia had last lived at 8 Hazard Ave., in Coventry, Desmarais said, and it wasn’t clear where he’d been living lately.

Ms. Garcia knew many in the homeless community, Desmarais said. Her friends said she was also happily single since recently separating from her husband, went out to nightclubs and frequently met various men.

Friend Linda Mulligan said, “She was too trustworthy.”

One was a homeless man, whom another friend, Kyli Mulligan, said she recognized on a surveillance tape shown to her by detectives. Mulligan only knew his nickname and Desmarais said he couldn’t verify that it was Garcia.

Kyli Mulligan said the homeless man showed up in Ms. Garcia’s life about two months ago, when she took him home. The next day, the man told others that he’d held Ms. Garcia in his arms during the night, but they weren’t intimate, Mulligan said.

“She said that he was good people, but she didn’t want to date him,” Kyli Mulligan said. However, the homeless man didn’t lose interest. “He was persistent. He kept trying to get with her,” Kyli Mulligan said. “When I called Jeannine, she said she didn’t want to be with him. He looked disappointed.”

The homeless man disappeared for a while, and then Kyli Mulligan said she started seeing him around again several days ago, sleeping on the steps in Cathedral Square.

And then she stopped seeing Ms. Garcia around.

Kyli Mulligan said she had tried to text message Jeannine Garcia all day on Saturday, but got no response.

With reports from Thomas J. Morgan.

amilkovi@projo.com