Police immediately began searching for the couple’s son, 26-year-old David William Hamilton, as a person of interest. He was arrested late Friday by Myrtle Beach, S.C., police at a hotel there, and was held on probation violation charges. Local authorities traveled to Myrtle Beach to interview Hamilton, who is described by Huntersville Deputy Chief of Police Michael Kee as having a history of mental illness and may have not been taking his medication.

Neighbors reported hearing noises at the Hamilton home early Friday and the couple’s daughter arrived early in the afternoon to visit. When the door wasn’t answered, she called police.

According to the Myrtle Beach Sun-News, police tracked Hamilton by his cell phone activity, which indicated he was in the Charleston and Myrtle Beach areas. Once police an idea of his location, they canvassed the area before spotting his car parked at Chelsea House, a condotel at 29th Avenue North and Ocean Boulevard. He was taken into custody there. Hamilton was arrested in 2007 in Iredell County on charges of breaking and entering, larceny and burglary, court records show. He was convicted and sentenced to five years of probation.

The Hamiltons were both pilots for Piedmont Airlines and, although James Hamilton was retired, his wife had continued working for US Airways. James Hamilton served as a Georgia state senator in the 1970s.

As of Wednesday afternoon, neither Huntersville police nor the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s office had released information about how the couple was killed.

“We’re sitting very tight on this for now because we want to do everything we can the right way to make sure justice is served for these two people,” Kee said Wednesday.