Police suspect that a 26-year-old Modesto, Calif. man murdered his husband and stuffed the body in an abandoned auto-body shop's freezer located in the state's Central Valley region.

Officials identified the victim as 49-year-old Thomas Kroger on Friday, the Modesto Bee reported.

Ceres police arrested Kroger's husband, Jacob Cervantes, on suspicion of murder the day after police found Kroger's body in a chest-type freezer on April 14.

Cervantes had voluntarily gone to the Ceres Police Department for an interview with detectives when he was arrested.

He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on April 18.

Police investigated The Shop Customs, located off Railroad Avenue, south of Whitmore Avenue, after several customers complained that Cervantes, whom they paid to perform custom paint jobs on vehicles, had not completed his work.

Inside the body shop, officers discovered Kroger's body still intact.

The autopsy report still has yet to determine the cause of death but according to the criminal complaint, Kroger died sometime between Dec. 1 and April 10, the Bee reported.

Kroger had taken Cervantes' last name as his own following their marriage last August.

According to the couple's marriage license, Kroger was previously married to Bernabe Garcia, who had died of cancer two-and-a-half weeks prior to Kroger and Cervantes' wedding.

Garcia had filed for divorce June 21 -- a month before his passing.

Cervantes also had been previously married but claimed he hadn't when he signed the marriage license with Kroger. According to public records obtained by the Bee, Cervantes was married to a Mindy Gutierrez in 2009.

Police told the Bee that Kroger had lived in Oklahoma, Texas and parts of San Francisco before settling in Modesto.

According to the Bee, detectives are also looking into Cervantes' previous business history as other complaints have been filed against him regarding him neglecting to perform services that he was paid to do. He has owned and operated other auto body shops in Stanislaus County.

Ceres Police are seeking the help of the public in finding Kroger's next of kin. Individuals with any nformation about Kroger is encouraged to contact Detective Derek Perry at (209) 538-5730.