A missing woman’s boyfriend has been accused of dismembering her — after chunks of her remains were found on a reciprocating saw and plastic sheets he had delivered by DoorDash, according to authorities.
Joshua Alexander Hite, 21, was arrested Feb. 10, more than a month after his girlfriend of four months, Isadora Wengel, 25, was last seen on Jan. 3, leaving a Walmart near her home in North Dakota, according to the Grand Forks Herald.
“We do not believe that Isadora is alive,” Fargo Police Chief David Zibolski said as his officers continued searching for the missing woman’s remains.
“We believe that Isadora was heinously murdered. We believe this to be a heinous and diabolical crime, and we believe there may be some dismemberment involved.”
Hite is believed to have already murdered Wengel when he took her phone and “sent messages to her family … manipulating them into believing she was alive,” Assistant Cass County State Attorney Derek Steiner alleged.
The “emotionless” boyfriend was first quizzed by cops on Jan. 7, the day Wengel was reported missing by her family, and admitted they had a bust-up and split.
He claimed that she had likely killed herself, and “input searches into Isadora’s phone to … have officers and her family believe that this was suicide,” Steiner said.
Cops, however, found that Hite had made disturbing Google searches that day after his girlfriend was last seen, including “junk removal near me,” “how to register for a legal alias” and for a reciprocating saw.
They then found disturbing evidence in a dumpster outside his apartment — including blood-spattered plastic sheets, towels with clumps of hair dried in blood on them — and a 12-inch saw blade with material stuck in its teeth, according to court documents obtained by Valley News Live.
Tests later showed the debris was a “fragmented array of human bone, skeletal muscle” and tissue that matched the missing woman’s DNA, the documents show.
Receipts showed that Hite bought a Milwaukee sawzall reciprocating saw, clear plastic sheeting, extra-large trash bags and black duct tape early Jan. 4, the morning after Wengel was last seen — and had them all delivered by DoorDash.
Much of it was found in the dumpster, along withan eerie Halloween costume, the documents said, without detailing exactly what it was.
Cops charged Hite with murder and are still trying to find Wengel’s body, which they believe may be in one of two giant totes her boyfriend also had delivered, one of which is missing.
Zibolski, the police chief, said it’s “been an all-hands-on-deck” trying to find the body, with officers working 12-hour shifts to search a landfill.
“In order to bring closure and justice to the family, we need to recover Isadora’s body,” Zibolski said. “We find ourselves in the midst of a mid-winter thaw which may reveal her whereabouts.”
Hite could face life imprisonment without parole if convicted.
He also faces charges of tampering with physical evidence and providing false information.
