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Detectives from the King County sheriff’s Cold Case Unit have arrested a 59-year-old Montana man in connection with the slaying of a Kirkland mother of two in April 1996.

The suspect was a co-worker of victim, Sandi Johnson, when she disappeared at the age of 28. Johnson’s body was found along Highway 410 in August 2004.

The suspect will be extradited to King County to face the charges.

On the day she disappeared, Johnson left her Kirkland home to run errands and meet a friend for lunch at Bellevue Square. She never made it to lunch, nor to her son’s birthday party the next day.

Two days later, Johnson’s wallet was found in the parking lot of a Rainier Valley-area hardware store, 20 miles from her home. Two days after that, her station wagon was found in a grocery-store parking lot near Tukwila. Police found the keys in the ignition and Johnson’s cellular phone in plain view. The car doors were unlocked.

Johnson worked at Bowen Scarff Ford in Kent at the time of her disappearance.

“This proves what can be done with a dedicated cold case unit that follows-up on leads and conducts thorough investigations,” King County Sheriff John Urquhart said in a news release. “The Sheriff’s Office remains committed to finding ways to seek justice in murder cases, no matter how much time has passed.”