Bryant looked for the notice in his email.

Officials in McDowell County, W.Va., had been searching for the man Bryant thought he had seen as the primary suspect in a homicide case. They said they believed he had fled to another state.

As the minutes passed and his suspicions rose, Bryant, who was off duty, called the local sheriff’s department and requested help. Deputies arrived and captured the man, who was later identified as Kenneth Alan Stout, the man wanted on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of a West Virginia woman.

Bryant’s unlikely encounter on May 6 brought officials’ weeks-long search to an end.

“The Lord put me in the right place at the right time,” Bryant said.

Stout, 63, is accused in the death of Barbara Baker, whose body was found in her vehicle on April 1, officials said. It was unclear Tuesday whether he had an attorney.

During a news conference late last month asking for the public’s help locating Stout, McDowell County Sheriff James Muncy said Stout and Baker had a “former domestic relationship.” Stout also had previous violent felony convictions that were “domestic related” in two West Virginia counties, Muncy said, and Stout had made threats “that he will not go back to jail.”

At the time, officials had reached Stout via phone but had not made physical contact with him, Muncy said. The sheriff added that he had asked for the help of the U.S. Marshals Service based on Stout “fleeing the area and going to numerous other states,” where the sheriff’s office would not have jurisdiction. Officials said Stout had last been seen in South Carolina, but they believed he frequented areas in Florida, Tennessee and Georgia.

Asked whether he was certain Stout was in another state, Muncy told reporters: “Yes.”

On the day he spotted Stout, Bryant had stopped by a hardware store on the way to get groceries. He said the stop was unscheduled, and he didn’t buy anything, but it held him up long enough that when he finished buying groceries, his path crossed with Stout’s.

After stopping by the hardware store, Bryant headed to a Food Lion in Rocky Point, N.C., to pick up ingredients to make hamburgers, which he and his family decided they wanted for dinner that night.

Bryant had just paid and was walking out of the grocery store with hamburger patties and a pack of Pepsi cans in hand when he saw the man who was later identified as Stout.

That first encounter lasted only a few seconds, but it was enough for Bryant to check the law enforcement bulletin once he got to his car. On it, he read that Stout had scars on his right arm and hand, and he decided to head back inside to see if he could get another look at the man.

Bryant found Stout again, this time in an aisle, standing beside a freezer of ice cream. But he couldn’t get close enough to see the scarring.

Still, as Bryant walked back to his car, he said he “wasn’t going to leave it alone,” despite only having a suspicion.

Shortly after, Stout came outside. He lingered in the area, and Bryant continued watching him. Then, he called the Pender County Sheriff’s Office.

He explained that he was off duty, wasn’t in his jurisdiction and wasn’t entirely positive about the identification, but he asked if someone could come out. While Bryant waited for the Pender County deputy to arrive, he continued to watch Stout, wanting to keep him in view until he had help.

As the deputy pulled into the parking lot, Stout averted his gaze and walked into a nearby McDonald’s, Bryant said. He and the deputy met inside a gas station, where they discussed the bulletin.

When two other deputies arrived, Stout, who had come back outside, started to run, Bryant said.

Bryant and the three deputies ran after him as he headed toward the woods behind the Food Lion and eventually took him into custody. When announcing on May 6 that Stout had been found, the McDowell County Sheriff’s Office said he awaited extradition back to West Virginia.

Stout was booked into a West Virginia jail on Tuesday, according to online records.

Even when not in uniform, Bryant said he carries a sense of awareness with him at all times, a habit that comes from his experience in law enforcement.

He didn’t expect to need those skills at a grocery store on a Saturday afternoon, but he said he’s glad he was there at that time — especially for the people in West Virginia.

“I hope that they can maybe stand a little bit at ease knowing that he’s in custody,” Bryant said.