GOSHEN, N.H. (AP) – A Lempster man was arrested and charged with first-degree murder for allegedly killing and burning the body of a 55-year-old Goshen woman.

Attorney General Kelly Ayotte said Kenneth Carpenter was arrested Thursday evening in Claremont and was to be arraigned today in Newport District Court.

The statement did not say where the body of Edith Meyer was found, other than it was burned.

Meyer was last seen on Feb. 22 and had plans to meet a friend on Feb. 23 but never showed up.

Police seized two cars belonging to Carpenter and searched his cabin in neighboring Lempster.

One car was found in Claremont, the other was taken from the cabin, police said. Meyer’s car still was in her garage.

Investigators spent much of Wednesday searching the cabin.

Newport District Court documents show Carpenter had been accused of stalking a friend of Meyer and in letters to his ex-girlfriend blamed her for interfering in their relationship.

Friends said Meyer was an avid snowshoer who rarely left the house without her dog. Investigators said the snowshoes and dog were at her house.

“The house looks like somebody just left,” Senior Assistant Attorney General Will Delker said. “What it looks like is that she either walked out or somebody picked her up.”

Delker said many investigative avenues had been dead ends. “We looked at her financial records and her credit cards, and there’s no activity after her disappearance,” he said.

Meyer was active in community activities, as the town representative on the Lake Sunapee Protective Association board and a member of the Friends of Mount Sunapee, the group working to stop expansion at the Mount Sunapee Resort.

Her next-door neighbor, said Meyer has very steady habits, so the abrupt break has people worried.