Husband charged with murder in death of young South Jersey mother found in burned vehicle

She was a mother of two young children whose concerned family members reported her missing earlier in the week.

To their distress, Sahlena Blackwell-Jacobs was found dead Thursday afternoon in a black Chevy Trailblazer registered to her husband, John, on the Black Horse Pike in Williamstown. Friday night, John Jacobs was arrested and charged with murdering his wife.

“He’ll pay the price for what he did,” Tom Gilbert, chief of detectives in the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office, said in an interview Saturday.

Gilbert said the police investigation into Blackwell-Jacobs’ death was “relentless” in part because of the two young children she leaves behind, including one “recently born."

“We’re proud of the police work, but at the end of the day, you can’t get her back,” a somber Gilbert said.

He would not disclose what investigators believe is the motive behind Blackwell-Jacobs’ death, which the county medical examiner determined was the result of blunt neck trauma, according to a statement announcing the arrest issued Saturday by Gloucester County Prosecutor Charles Fiore.

Jacobs, 27, of Millville, is charged with first-degree murder, arson, hindering apprehension, and obstruction of justice.

Authorities were responding to the report of a vehicle fire on the 1900 block of South Black Horse Pike around 3:30 p.m. Thursday when they found Blackwell-Jacobs body inside the SUV.

Jacobs is being held in the Salem County Jail pending a detention hearing.