( CNN ) -- A Virginia judge on Tuesday sent to a grand jury the case against a man accused of abducting a 12-year-old girl whose mother was later found dead . Roanoke County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Judge Philip Trompeter found probable cause during a preliminary hearing for Jeffrey Scott Easley , who is accused of taking the girl across the country before being spotted outside a San Francisco supermarket . The judge also denied Easley 's bond request , Roanoke County spokeswoman Teresa Hall said . Theresa Shanley in December spotted Easley , 32 , and the girl outside a Safeway store in the Richmond district of San Francisco , then alerted police . Easley was subsequently arrested on abduction charges , as well as counts of credit card theft and credit card fraud . He waived extradition . Roanoke County Police Chief Ray Lavinder has said Easley is a `` very good suspect '' in the murder of Tina Smith , the mother of the girl he allegedly abducted . No one has been charged in the 41-year-old woman 's death . For now , only the abduction charge will go to the April 1 grand jury , Hall said . Easley 's attorney , Thomas W. Roe Jr. , said his client will contest any and all allegations . Prosecutors are awaiting the return of DNA laboratory results before proceeding with any charges in Tina Smith 's death , Hall said . In January , Easley wrote a letter to the Roanoke Times , saying the girl was his willing cross-country companion . `` I did not kidnapp her or take her aginest her will , '' Easley , 32 , wrote in a misspelled letter postmarked from the Western Virginia Regional Jail . `` She made me promise not to leave her . '' `` Obviously , we differ , '' said Hall . `` We feel she was taken against her will . '' During Tuesday 's preliminary hearing , the girl 's father , Benjamin Smith , said an order that forbade him having contact with his daughter had been lifted by the time she disappeared , Hall said . Smith testified that Easley did not have his permission to take the girl out of state . The girl did not testify Tuesday . Police believe that Tina Smith , who was Easley 's girlfriend , was killed between the morning and evening of December 3 . Lavinder in December said authorities believe Easley and Smith 's daughter left Virginia that night or early the next day . They traveled cross-country in Tina Smith 's silver 2005 Dodge Neon sedan , which was found in a parking lot adjacent to San Francisco International Airport after authorities found Easley . An Amber Alert was issued for the girl December 6 , after police found Tina Smith 's body inside her Salem home and discovered that her daughter was missing . From the beginning , public notices named Easley as the girl 's alleged abductor . Shanley said she saw the girl sitting on a curb outside the northern California store while Easley was begging for money . The Safeway was within walking distance of a makeshift campsite containing a tent in which Easley and the girl had been staying . CNN 's Phil Gast contributed to this report .
Jeffrey Scott ##y is accused of taking a year - old girl on a cross - country trek . Abduction charge is sent to grand jury after preliminary hearing . A Virginia police chief named Easley is a ` ` very good suspect '' in the murder of the girl 's father .