Investigators in North Dakota believe a missing woman’s boyfriend dismembered her body with tools he had DoorDashed to his apartment.
After killing Isadora Wengel, police believe, 21-year-old Joshua Alexander Hite carried her body across state lines into Minnesota inside a plastic tote, KVLY reports.
Wengel was last seen on December 31 and reported missing a week later by her family, as CrimeOnline previously reported. Hite was arrested last week and charged with murder and tampering with evidence, but Wengel’s body has not been found.
“We believe, based on the investigation (thus) far, that Isadora Wangle was heinously murdered,” the Fargo Police Department said, KTVU reported. “And we, meaning the police department, collectively have probable cause to believe that Josh Hite, her boyfriend, is the person who murdered and tampered with evidence related to the disposal of her body.
“We believe this to be a heinous and diabolical crime. And we believe that there may be some dismemberment involved.”
Court documents say Hite accessed Wengel’s phone on January 4 and 5, sending bizarre Snapchat photos of his apartment to her mother and another person, KVLY said.
The documents also say that the state crime lab found blood matching Wengel’s DNA on several items seized from Hite’s apartment and found in surrounding areas, including a bathroom mat, plastic sheeting, medical gauze, and towels.
The documents also said debris found on a 12-inch Sawzall blade found that scene was an “admixed array of human bone, skeletal muscle, and adipose tissue” with a DNA profile that matched Wengel.
Hite claimed to have dropped Wengel off at her apartment on the morning of January 5, but surveillance footage shows that she was not in his vehicle at the time he said he was driving her there.
The documents say a search of Hite’s phone found some disturbing Google searches on January 4, including “home depot Sawzall,” “door dash,” junk removal near me,” and “dumpster.” He also made multiple searches for “how to register for a legal alias.”
When detectives found overflowing dumpsters at Hite’s apartment complex, investigators began searching them for evidence and found a Halloween costume belonging to Wendell, black garbage bags with bloody plastic sheeting, and the Sawzall blade, the court documents say.
They further found a Home Depot receipt dated January 4 for a Sawzall reciprocating saw, clear plastic sheeting, extra large trash bags, black duct tape, and a carbide saw blade. The items ere delivered by DoorDash at about 10:30 a.m. that morning.
According to KTVU, police believe Hite drove to Otter Tail County Minnesota in a Subaru Impreza carrying Wengel’s remains in a 27-gallon storage box and that it was the tote may have been covered with snow or placed in a low-lying area.
“Based on the fact that we know the disposal of her body occurred in extremely cold weather with significant snow on the ground,” police said, “we now find ourselves in the midst of a midwinter thaw, which may reveal her whereabouts.”
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[Featured image: Joshua Alexander Hite/Cass County Jail and Isadora Wengel/West Fargo Police Department]
