A husband has been accused of murdering his wife and dumping her body in the woods with the help of her two roommates before joining a search party attempting to find her.
Authorities in South Carolina found the remains of Jessica Barnes, who was last seen on August 1 at her Pendleton residence that she shared with her husband, Brandon Barnes, and two roommates Kendall Mims and Victoria Tippett.
Pendleton Police Department revealed that the 20-year-old woman was reported missing by her mother Cecilia Varvara on September 10 - almost six weeks after her disappearance, as reported by PEOPLE.
The mom received text messages from her daughter's phone but didn’t believe they were from her because of how they were written, according to WYFF.
“Details surrounding the disappearance were vague and material and personnel from (the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division) were required and needed for this continued investigation,” Pendleton Police Chief Robert Crosby said, cited by The New York Post.
During their investigation, Pendleton Police found human remains in the Twin Lakes area of Pickens County, around 5 miles away from Pendleton, per Law and Crime. A coroner confirmed on Tuesday (October 1) that they belonged to Jessica.
Barnes’ husband, Mims, and Tippett were questioned by police after the discovery, but no one was viewed as a suspect at the time.
“There was some issues with her and her husband. They were having the typical marital disputes, argumentative, and then, she just left,” Crosby said.
Law enforcement was told that Jessica didn't share where she was going with her husband and roommates.
According to Blunt Force Media, the trio joined in on the search party for Jessica and were even seen putting up missing person flyers around the area.
Barnes even read a haunting letter his wife allegedly left for him to read on what would eventually be their tenth anniversary, the publication reported.
“We have been through so much in the first year of our life together, and I am so grateful that I met you. I love you so much, baby. Thank you for sticking by my side and letting me in. It’s hard to love me, but we had a son and got married - best choice I ever made, by the way," the note read.
Pickens County Coroner’s Office conducted an autopsy and found that Jessica died of asphyxiation by strangulation. Her death was ruled a homicide.
The three suspects were then arrested and charged with the victim's death on Wednesday (October 2).
According to an arrest affidavit, Brandon allegedly murdered his wife on August 2 by “using his arms to strangle her to death," adding: “The defendant did admit to the murder after being advised of Miranda,” cited by the Law and Crime.
Brandon was charged with murder, while Tippett and Mims were charged with being an accessory after the fact, obstruction of justice, and neglecting to report a crime.
The three were denied bail.
A GoFundMe was created to help Jessica's family with financial support at this heartbreaking time. As of the time of writing, $3,795 has been raised of the $25,000 goal.
"Jessica‘s life was taken by violence, abuse on every level!" the description read. "Jessica wanted to be loved & cherished, she wanted to escape from all that she witnessed in her life believing that the love of her life will love her with all his heart but in return she received abuse, death threats & at the end killing her!"
Our thoughts are with Jessica's family at this heartbreaking time.
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