CASTLE ROCK, Colo. -- Sandi Berg placed white flowers at a makeshift memorial where the victim of a gruesome dragging death had been found, grateful that a suspect was arrested after his photo was found at the crime scene but wondering who the victim was.

"Hopefully he will give the name of the girl so that her family can be contacted and this can be put to rest," Berg said Wednesday, hours after police announced the arrest. "She deserves peace."

Jose Luis Rubi-Nava, 36, was being held without bail on a first-degree murder charge at the Douglas County jail.

The woman, whose strangled and battered body was found Monday in a subdivision about 20 miles south of Denver, had still not been identified. Preliminary autopsy results indicated she died of asphyxiation and head injuries from the dragging, the coroner's office said.

Nancy Foley, who lives near the house where the body was found, said the woman was found with an orange towrope around her neck and that her face was unrecognizable. Investigators said she had been dragged for at least a mile.

Investigators did not say how or why the photo had been left near the body.

The photo shows Rubi-Nava with his right arm casually draped on a woman's shoulder. Sheriff Dave Weaver said investigators had not determined whether the woman in the photo was the victim.

The photo had been made public after the body was found, and investigators said it prompted a flood of calls. Weaver said tips from the public had led to the arrest, but he did not elaborate.

Rubi-Nava appeared in court for an advisement hearing on Wednesday. He also is under an Immigration and Customs Enforcement hold, according to Weaver, and is a suspected illegal immigrant.

Prosecutors said they will review investigative reports before formally charging Rubi-Nava, but he is expected to face the top charge of first-degree murder.

He is due back in court Monday morning for the formal filing of charges and is being held without bond.

Rubi-Nava had an interpreter and was advised his rights in court.

The prosecution said Rubi-Nava may be under investigation for criminal cases, possibly as a suspect or a witness.

Authorities searched Rubi-Nava's Glendale apartment and his vehicle on Wednesday.

The Rocky Mountain News interviewed a close family friend and roommate who told the newspaper that he believes the victim is Luz Maria Franco Fierro, a 50-year-old from the southern Mexican state of Guerrero.

Cesar Gustavo Garcia Flores told the newspaper that he has known Fierro most of his life and said he sometimes saw her and Rubi-Nava arguing. Fierro shared the Glendale apartment with Rubi-Nava and hasn't been seen since Sunday.

The woman in the photograph is Rubi-Nava's Mexican wife, Flores said.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Carl Rusnok said agents believe Rubi-Nava is an illegal immigrant from Mexico and were trying to confirm his identity.

Deputies and residents had described a grisly trail of blood more than a mile long leading from Interstate 25 to the woman's body. It was found near a driveway on a paved street of large ranch-style homes, some on spacious lots carpeted with tall prairie grass.

On Wednesday, highway crews were spreading a coat of fresh tar over the roads to cover the remnants of the blood. But Berg, a 25-year resident of the subdivision, said the blood still showed through in places.