Inset: Jennifer Ruth Stuart (Clackamas County Sheriff”s Office’s). Background: Mount Hood National Forest in Clackamas County, Oregon, where Stuart’s body was found (KPTV/YouTube).
An Oregon man killed his girlfriend during an argument at their home before dumping her body in the forest with the help of his teenage son, authorities say.
William Glen Blake, 56, has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of 38-year-old Jennifer Ruth Stuart. He also faces charges including abuse of a corpse, unlawful use of a weapon with domestic intent, and tampering with evidence, jail records show.
Blake is believed to have killed Stuart on Aug. 15, at their home on the 600 block of Hilltop Lane in Oregon City. It would be more than two weeks until the woman’s body was found in Mount Hood National Forest on Sept. 1. Her cause of death is currently unclear.
Love true crime? Sign up for our newsletter, The Law&Crime Docket, to get the latest real-life crime stories delivered right to your inbox.
Details released by the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office in a press release suggest at least one more person was involved in crimes surrounding Stuart’s death — namely, Blake’s 15-year-old son.
The murder defendant’s child was arrested “for his role in moving Stuart’s remains” and placed into the Clackamas County Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center on charges of abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence, according to the press release.
While the defendant’s son was not named, authorities are asking for the public’s help locating another of Blake’s sons — 17-year-old Austin Michael Blake, as well as a red Chevy Avalanche with Texas plates.
Though authorities said Stuart shared a home with William Blake before her death, local reporting suggests the victim was previously homeless. Other homeless people in the area said it was suspicious that she was found so far away.
“She was a good girl, but she’s in a better place I guess,” Stuart’s friend Mike Chaney told local Fox affiliate KPTV. “When I found out, it hit me in my stomach, it hurt. Why do we have to lose the good ones when there are so many bad people out there?”
William Blake is currently being held without bail.
Clackamas County is located in northern Oregon, just south of Portland.
