On the morning of Thursday August 20th, shortly after 4 am a call came into the Crawfordsville Police Department regarding a female body found on a bridge just west of town. Officers arrived and located a headless body.
Officers believed the body had been dumped there sometime between 1 and 4 am when the call came in.
While police were still on the scene investigating, 44-year-old Michael Parks walked into the station to report that his wife Hope had been missing since August 18th after they had a fight and she left in a vehicle driven by an unknown person.
Parks granted permission to the officers to search his residence in effort to "help ascertain where Mrs. Parks might have gone and with whom she may have left the residence."
When officers arrived, WISH TV reports that they located dried blood on the driveway and more in the garage with a shoe print. Officers then sought a search warrant.
While searching the residence, police found a tarp that they believe was used to transport Hope's body as well as a spent .22 casing in the yard near more blood.
Hope's head was found buried in the cellar along with bloodied rags.
An autopsy determined that Hope died from a gunshot wound to the head, but noted that she had also suffered blunt force trauma to her chest and extremities the Journal Review reported.
Parks has been charged with one count of murder. He is currently being held in the Montgomery County Jail without bond.
In his initial court appearance Tuesday, he entered a preliminary plea of not guilty via video appearance. He advised the court that he would be hiring counsel, and his pretrial hearing has been scheduled for October 19, 2020. His jury trial is slated to begin January 12, 2021.