Summers, whose real name is Natel King, was last seen Feb. 29 walking to a corner bar in Conshohocken, Penn., after completing a film shoot with a sexual bondage theme at a two-story apartment. She never returned.
Prosecutors have charged photographer Anthony Frederick with murdering Summers.
Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor said Frederick was arrested about midnight Tuesday night and charged with first-degree murder, possession of an instrument of crime, unsworn falsification to authorities and abuse of a corpse.
An associate of Frederick's, Jennifer Mitkus, was also arrested and accused of lying to authorities and hindering apprehension.
Authorities say that the body was decomposed and covered in some sort of plastic wrapping. When police arrived they found her face down and with a large gash on her hand.
"Obviously, she put up a fight against her attacker," Castor said. "I believe, and investigators believe, that she met her demise at the hands of Anthony Frederick, as part of a sexual bondage fantasy."
Castor said there may also have been a dispute over money. Frederick told investigators he took 20 digital photos of King on Feb. 29. He said she was paid $900 and left.
In photos Frederick provided, Summers was displaying bondage paraphernalia similar to that found with the body.
The 5’8”, 138 lb., blonde actress had traveled from her hometown of Toronto for a photo shoot. Known also as “the Sexy Canadian,” Summers posed in adult magazines and online sites for nearly five years.
When Summers didn’t show up in Detroit, her family called police. Early this month, police detectives showed up at the Conshohocken apartment where she completed the shoot.
Curtis Shears, who shared a Mississauga, Ontario, apartment with the actress, said earlier this month that she feared for her life after the photo shoot with Frederick, who advertises his services at www.frederickphotodesign.com.
Shears, who knew the porn actress for 10 years, said that he “was joking about [her] getting killed, but she was really worried about herself.”
“I couldn’t get any more details because she said she couldn’t talk because there were other people there,” Shears said. “So she said she would call me back in five minutes but she never did.”
Summers, 23, was a second-year student at Memorial University in Newfoundland, taking correspondence courses in psychology. She started as an erotic entertainer when she was 18, using a web camera in her home and posting shots of herself online.