A 71-year-old priest who had been missing since last week has been found dead in Georgia, according to authorities.

The body of Father Rene Robert was found in a wooded area four miles off a highway in Georgia, according to St Johns County Sherriff David Shoar.

The sole suspect, 28-year-old Steven James Murray, led the authorities to the priest's body in a short police chase.

He was arrested on Wednesday night in Aiken SC with numerous weapons in the Roman Catholic Priest's car.

Murray is likely to be charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping, according to Shoar.

The motive is yet to be determined, but it has transpired that the priest had been trying to help Murray after he was recently released from jail. Murray was described as a "career criminal". 

Authorities believe Robert, originally from Florida, was killed on April 12, the last day he was seen alive.

Shoar said that he and the investigators had finished a "huge part" of the case against Murray, but that there was still plenty of work to be done.

Shoar, who described Robert as a dear friend, said this is the most intense case he had been part of in 35 years.

"I just really wish we had better news tonight," he said.

Since Robert's disappearance last week, a number of prayer vigils have been held.

"Father Rene was such a loving person and he would do anything for anybody and most people would say the same thing and the fact that he was trying to help somebody and that person took advantage of him, that's what hurts the most," Linda Bertino of the St Bonaventure Secular Franciscan Fraternity, said at a vigil.