A Headless Torso Was Found At A Rest Stop In 2004. Someone Finally Has Been Arrested For The Crime.

It’s been nearly 20 years since the headless torso of a woman was found near a picnic area at a rest stop in Warren County, MissouriBut, a man was eventually arrested.

Authorities weren’t able to identify the deceased woman for 12 years, using DNA samples in 2016 to determine that the body belonged to Deanna Denise Howland of Alton, Illinois, CBS News reported. Nearly seven years later DNA has led to Mike Clardy (63), as a suspect.

Clardy was charged Wednesday with second-degree killing and abandonment. His bail was set to $1 million.

Police were able to connect DNA fragments found on Howland’s body and a knife found in a sewer near the rest stop where her body was found to Clardy. Clardy was interviewed by police about the crime Tuesday and admitted to it. He said he had killed Howland at his home and then dismembered her body and dumped some parts in St. Louis County or Warren County.

Howland was a 35-year old mother of four and struggled with a drug addiction before she died.

Maintenance workers at the rest station found her body on June 29, 2004. However, the case quickly became cold. In 2014, Lt. Matt Schmutz of the Warren County Sheriff’s Department started investigating missing person cases. One year later, he communicated with the Madison County Illinois Sheriff’s Office about a case involving a woman who hadn’t been seen since the spring of 2004, KSDK reported. In 2016, DNA testing confirmed that the torso belonged the missing woman.

Clardy, in 2022, was finally able to be tested again after three years. His connection was confirmed by a DNA sample.

CBS reported Clardly doesn’t have any criminal records in Missouri.

At a press conference on Thursday announcing the arrest, Howland’s daughter Ashley Kinnear thanked police for their years of work looking for her mother’s killer.

“I am just very very thankful,” She spoke.

Lt. Scott Schoenfeld, a detective with the Warren County Sheriff’s Office who worked on the case for years, also expressed his excitement about catching a suspect.

“At the point we zeroed in on a suspect it was one of the better moments of my career,” He said it according to KMOV.

Clardy could spend nearly 40 years prison if convicted.