RICHMOND, Texas – A dismembered body found in a Fort Bend County creek is believed to be a 27-year-old woman who was killed in North Carolina.
The remains of a woman were found in Oyster Creek in the 4300 block of Skinner Lane in Richmond Sunday afternoon.
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North Carolina officials said even though a positive identification hasn't been made, there is little doubt that the remains belong to Laura Jean Ackerson, of Kinston, N.C. A co-worker reported her missing last week when Ackerson failed to pick up her two small children at her ex-boyfriend's house after work.
Deputies said Ackerson was killed in North Carolina and that the body was cut into at least seven parts with a saw. The body parts were then placed in an ice chest and driven across several states and dumped into Oyster Creek, investigators said.
Ackerson and her ex, Grant Ruffin Hayes, 32, were locked in a custody dispute over the children.
Hayes and his wife, Amanda Perry Hayes, 39, were arrested in North Carolina at 1 a.m. Monday and charged with murder in Ackerson's death.
The torso was found Sunday about 50 yards from Grant Hayes' sister-in-law's house near Oyster Creek, officials said. Deputies said Grant and Amanda Hayes drove to Fort Bend County from North Carolina last week and stayed at the house Monday and Tuesday while they disposed of the body.
Searchers found the victim's head and a leg Monday at 2 p.m. floating in a patch of hydrilla along the west bank.
Fort Bend County deputy Chief Craig Brady said it was one of the most gruesome crime scenes he has seen in his 37 years of law enforcement.
"I can't imagine someone being that cold, so uncaring that after the murder, they took the steps of dismembering the lady in the manner that they did and just tossing her in the creek," Brady said.
Deputies said Hayes' relatives apparently did not know about the body and they have not been charged.