Michelle “Angie” Yarnell, Msg 11/03, Morgan County IN [HUSBAND CHARGED]

[sarahhod]

Sheriff: Morgan County Murder Mystery Solved, Body still Missing

http://www.kspr.com/news/local/35632954.html
By KSPR News

Story Created: Dec 5, 2008

Story Updated: Dec 6, 2008
Investigators say a postcard meant to throw off a missing person investigation, instead helped them file murder charges.

They say after they arrested Michael Shane Yarnell for pretending to write a postcard from his missing wife, he admitted to hiding her dead body.

On Friday, investigators searched a remote part of Morgan County where they say Yarnell told them to look.

Michelle “Angie” Yarnell was reported missing in November of 2003 from her residence on Ivy Bend.

They believe she died in October of that year.

Yarnell allegedly admitted to dumping her body four miles from the couple’s home on a remote island on the Lake of the Ozarks.

“We don't have a body right now," Sheriff Jim Petty says.

The sheriff says a five year search for a missing woman is now a search for a missing body.

“Her husband said he was afraid and tried to dispose of her body.” Petty says. “I can't say it was an accident it was the result of a domestic disturbance."

Petty says Yarnell told investigators Angie fell from their porch during a fight.

Then Yarnell allegedly used a canoe to row out to the island in an attempt to hide the crime.

“He attempted to put her on the island but didn't make it," Petty says.

Petty says the canoe tipped and Angie's body fell just off the island's shore.

“I remember seeing her pictures in the paper and I thought I bet she's around here somewhere," Fred Long says.

Five years after long time resident Fred Long had that hunch, investigators started searching an island he owns for Angie’s remains.

Long says if Angie's body was near his home, he thinks he would have found her by now.

“As close as I am and as often as I fish, I think I would have at least smelled some sort of odor.”

Long is the only one who lives in the area year round.

“A lot of people from Kansas City, St. Louis, and Iowa are weekenders here," Petty says.

With no body, investigators haven't determined an exact cause of death.

They aren’t sure how long they will keep searching because time and lake tides are against them.

“I didn't know the family but I can’t imagine what I’d be going through if that was one my kids," Long says.

Long hopes offering his front yard will help solve the five year old mystery.

The sheriff did find a few bones Friday but says they don’t appear promising.

Petty says they might be animal bones.

He says he is uncertain how long they will continue searching.

KSPR spoke to Angie's mother Friday who lives near Jefferson City.

She says she can't decide how she feels about the charges.

Yarnell is in the custody of the Morgan County Adult Detention Center on charges of Murder in the 2nd degree, two counts of voluntary manslaughter, and one count of involuntary manslaughter.

He is also being held on forgery and tampering with physical Evidence stemming from the post card he allegedly sent Angie’s mother.

After several years of searching for Yarnell as a person of interest, law enforcement offiers found him in Biloxi, Mississippi.

They questioned him in Biloxi then had him brought back to Missouri to face charges for the alleged postcard forgery.

[TigressPen]

I hope they do find her remains. RIP Angie.

[packy]

It does seem puzzling that the man living there all year round would not have noticed if a body was there. Hope her husband is being truthful, and they do find her remains.

[Faith]

Missouri man charged in wife's 2003 death

Posted on Sat, Dec. 06, 2008 02:57 PM

VERSAILLES, Mo. | A Morgan County man has been charged with killing his wife, who has been missing since 2003.

Michael Shane Yarnell, 39, was charged Thursday with second-degree murder, two counts of voluntary manslaughter and one count of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Michelle "Angie" Yarnell, who was 28 when she disappeared around Oct. 26, 2003.

Police, who had been looking for Michael Yarnell since 2005, arrested him Nov. 5 in Biloxi, Miss.

Morgan County Sheriff James Petty said Yarnell told police his wife died after the couple fought and he pushed her off a 10-foot-high deck at their Ivy Bend home. He then dumped her body on an island, Petty said Friday.

Sheriff's officers told Angie Yarnell's mother, Marianne Asher-Chapman, about the charges Thursday night, Petty said.

Asher-Chapman, who had pushed investigators to continue looking for her daughter for five years, told the Sedalia Democrat she didn't know how to react to the news.

"I don't know yet," she said. "I'm just kind of numb."

Yarnell told police he took his wife's body by boat to an uninhabited island off the Osage River near Ivy Bend, where he left her remains, Petty said. Yarnell led investigators to the island about 4 miles from the Yarnells' former home and a search was under way for the remains.

Morgan County Prosecutor Marvin Opie said Yarnell faces four different charges to allow an eventual jury to find him guilty on a lesser charge if sufficient evidence isn't available to convict him on the murder charge. If convicted of murder, Yarnell could face life in prison.

He also faces forgery and tampering with evidence charges, which were filed in November when Asher-Chapman reported that she had received a post card that purported to be sent from her daughter on Nov. 7, 2003.

Michael Yarnell told police he sent Asher-Chapman the post card, Petty said, in the hope that it would stop the investigation and lead investigators to think Angie Yarnell was alive and headed to Texas.

Investigators found items that Angie Yarnell would have taken with her while searching the home of Michael Yarnell's former stepfather, Petty said.

That made it clear to investigators that Michael Yarnell's previous story about his wife's disappearance "didn't match up," Petty said. When Michael Yarnell was confronted with the new evidence, he confessed to killing his wife, the sheriff said.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/breaking_news/story/925230.html

[sarahhod]

http://i35.tinypic.com/200zbd0.jpg
Michelle “Angie” Yarnell



http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=268886320

[sarahhod]

http://www.projectjason.org/forums/index.php?topic=319.0

[Faith]

Family of Murdered Morgan County Woman Speaks Out
By Will Carter, KSPR News

Story Created: Dec 6, 2008

Story Updated: Dec 6, 2008

"I believe she's free, and she's happy, and she's relieved that her mother can move on now, " said Marianne Chapman.

As the search for her daughter's remains continues, Chapman says knowing the truth about what happened finally closes a chapter in this five year old case. Her daughter, Michelle "Angie" Yarnell, went missing in November of 2003, but it was just this week that Chapman would find out her daughter's husband was responsible for her death.

"I'm very glad with what they've done, the arrest they've made, and the charges against him," said Chapman.

Michael Yarnell was arrested in Mississippi after pretending to write a letter from his deceased wife.

"It really worked for a couple of weeks, but out of the blue it hit me. She didn't write this," recalls Chapman.

Her motherly instinct was right. After Yarnell's arrest, he confessed to allegedly killing his wife and dumping her body off a remote island on Lake of the Ozarks.

"I know they had argued off and on, but overall I had never seen them argue too much. But behind closed doors, who knows," said a reflective Chapman.

Now, under another door lies 5 years of memories. In a trunk, Yarnell's mother has left gift after gift for her daughter, in hopes she might return home. But knowing her daughter may never get to see what's in the trunk, Chapman has only a few words for her daughter's killer.

"In time maybe there's forgiveness, but right now I'm really hurt and angry," expressed Chapman.

Those feelings are all she can feel for now, until her daughter's body is found.

"To get Angie back is my ultimate goal in all of this. Never, ever would I give up. Never," said Chapman.

Yarnell's husband now faces a line up of charges including murder and manslaughter. As of now, her remains still have not been found.

Video at link
http://www.kspr.com/news/local/35667329.html

[TigressPen]

What puzzles me is why her killer husband sent that postcard after 5 years.

[sarahhod]

I think this is the reason Tigress.

Michael Yarnell told police he sent Asher-Chapman the post card, Petty said, in the hope that it would stop the investigation and lead investigators to think Angie Yarnell was alive and headed to Texas.

[Faith]

Yarnell charged with wife’s 2003 murder

Mon Dec 08, 2008, 02:43 PM CST

Morgan County, Mo. -

http://www.westsidestar.net/archive/x1009160234/g03d052247cea241a50e77ab9ef091ecb62fc15f2b11455.jp g

Late last week lawmen from across the lake area searched a tiny island near Ivy Bend for the remains of Angie Yarnell, who was 28 years old when she disappeared Oct. 26, 2003.
Her husband, Michael Yarnell, reportedly confessed to the crime Thursday, Dec. 5. Yarnell, 39, has been held at the Morgan County Adult Detention Center since being extradited from Mississippi in November. More than a year after being named a person of interest, he was charged with felony tampering and forgery.
He reportedly told investigators he and Angie Yarnell had argued and that she fell off the porch and hit her head at the couple’s home.
He has since been charged with her murder and is being held on second degree murder and manslaughter charges.
Sheriff Jim Petty, the Missouri Water Patrol, Highway Patrol and a Missouri conservation agent were searching for evidence of the crime Friday afternoon.
“He didn’t bury her, she was dumped in the lake, but the way the lake is here it’s very shallow,” Petty reported from the scene of the search. “We’d like to find more evidence, although that might be difficult five years later.”
The remote nature of the location and its abundance of wild life doesn’t give Petty much hope, but said it’s his goal to return Yarnell to her family.
“The task force’s new priority is to bring Angie home to her loved ones,” he said.
Investigators followed numerous leads, interviewed several people, and determined that she was the victim of homicide stemming from a domestic disturbance at her home. Petty estimates there were “a couple hundred” man hours dedicated to the investigation last week.
Angie Yarnell was reported missing by her mother, who had not heard from her for several days after her disappearance. Yarnell has not been in contact with anyone in her family or any of her longtime friends, leading her mother, Marianne Asher-Chapman to believe her daughter had been the victim of foul play.
Monday, Petty said a few bones were found on on near the island, but speculated they were likely animal remains.
“We’re going to have them checked out, though,” Petty said.
Michael Yarnell is being held on a $100,000 cash-only bond at the Morgan County Justice Center.

http://www.westsidestar.net/homepage/x415869353/Yarnell-charged-with-wife-s-2003-murder

[sarahhod]

Five long years, one day at a time

http://www.lakesunleader.com/news/x1049848776/Five-long-years-one-day-at-a-time

By Deanna Wheeler
Lake Sun Leader
Mon Dec 08, 2008, 11:24 PM CST


Oct. 20, 2003 was the last time Marianne Asher-Chapman talked to her daughter, Michelle “Angie” Yarnell. According to the phone records Chapman has kept, it was a 13-minute conversation.
Chapman still remembers that conversation. Angie said she was going to look for a job in town.
For the next eight days, Chapman’s phone records show several two-minute phone calls, just long enough for Chapman to leave a message on the answering machine.
On Nov. 1, the family gathered for a niece’s birthday party.
“It’s something she wouldn’t have missed for the world,” Chapman said. “Earlier she told me what she got her and she was so excited.”
When Angie missed the party, Chapman said a huge pit in her stomach developed.
“I left a message saying that if I didn’t hear from her by the next morning, I was going to come to her doorstep and knock the door down,” Chapman said.
Several hours later, Angie’s husband, Michael Shane Yarnell, drove to Chapman’s residence in Angie’s vehicle claiming Angie had run away with another man.
Rather than believe Yarnell, Chapman filed a missing person report.
A week later, Yarnell sent Chapman a postcard pretending he was Angie. The postcard said Angie had moved to Texas.
Chapman says she, along with everybody else, believed the postcard at first. It hit her a few days later that the handwriting wasn’t Angie’s.
Four years later, the family found a handwriting expert on the Internet who offered to take a look at the postcard and concluded what Chapman had believed all along - the handwriting on the postcard didn’t match Angie’s. It matched Yarnell’s.
It was the piece of evidence needed to re-ignite the case.
Four years after Angie was reported missing, the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office named Yarnell as a person of interest.
A few months ago, Chapman filed a missing person report for Yarnell. Her intention was to get access to posters and fliers.
When Yarnell, who was living in Biloxi, Miss., applied for a new job last month, the report popped up when a background check was conducted.
Officers with the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office traveled to Mississippi and interviewed Yarnell.
Based on the information gathered, when the officers returned to the area, charges were filed for felony counts of forgery and tampering with physical evidence. Yarnell was arrested without incident and extradited back to Morgan County.
“It’s a little funny that the very thing he thought would keep him safe – sending a postcard – took him away,” Chapman said.
Chapman credits the new investigators handling the case, calling them her heroes.
But it was also her own persistence.
“I never gave up and I wouldn’t let them either. I was a pain in their butt,” Chapman said.
On Dec. 4, 2008, Yarnell was charged with four more felonies for the murder of his wife.
The charges include murder in the second degree, voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter in the first degree and involuntary manslaughter in the second degree.
He is being held in the Morgan County Adult Detention Center on a $100,000 cash-only bond.
Chapman said she’ll be attending every single court hearing Yarnell has so she can get closure.
“I will be better when it’s all over,” Chapman said.
On Dec 12, Yarnell will go before a judge for a case review on the charges of forgery and tampering with evidence.

[sarahhod]

Heartbroken mother copes with closure
By J.B. Simpson/LakeExpo.com

http://www.lakeexpo.com/articles/200...op_news/07.txt

Friday, January 9, 2009 2:38 AM CST



Remain's discovered Jan. 3 in Miller County have been identified as Brandi Mathews of Osage Beach, Mo.
Deanna Roberts has waited by the telephone for 29 months - hesitating to answer each call in fear of what she might hear.

The call came Thursday.

The remains of her missing daughter, Brandi Mathews, were found Jan. 3 in a creek bed outside of Eldon putting to an end the nightmare Roberts calls, “a living hell.”

During the six days between the remains being discovered and the official identification from the Boone County Medical Examiner’s office, Roberts was left to imagine the worst and hope for the best.

“The emotions are indescribable,” she said. “When I heard the news my heart sank thinking it could be Brandi. I don’t really know how to feel.”

Information about Mathews’ disappearance was not released to the media until June 2008, nearly two years after she was last heard from by anyone in her family.

“I couldn’t get anyone to listen,” Roberts said. “I knew something was wrong when I hadn’t heard from Brandi for a couple of weeks in September of 2006.”

For months she searched alone, launching her own investigation.

“I called everyone I knew that Brandi associated with. I e-mailed her over and over and I never got an answer,” she said. “I knew Brandi wouldn’t be hiding from me, there was just no way.”

In March of 2008, Roberts said a detective in Osage Beach listened to her plea for help.

“Det. (Tracey) Robinett has been a Godsend. He listened to me and he filed the missing persons report,” Roberts said. “He has stuck with me and helped me through this whole thing.”

Not a resident of Missouri, Roberts said keeping up with Brandi’s investigation is difficult, but thanks to her family’s support, the encouragement of Det. Robinett and the friends she made through the Jefferson City-based Missouri Missing organization, she has kept strong for her daughter’s sake.

“Having the support has made this whole thing a little easier to deal with,” she said. “I felt like I was alone for so long in looking for Brandi. I know I am not the only one going through this.”

Two other Mid-Missouri moms know exactly how Roberts feels. Marianne Asher-Chapman and Peggy Florence founded Missouri Missing in an effort to help families who are missing loved ones. The three moms have grown close, giving eachother help and courage.

Marianne Asher-Chapman’s daughter has been missing since October 2003.

Asher-Chapman’s case changed slightly when her son-in-law, Michael Yarnell, reportedly admitted to her daughter’s death in December.

After more than five years of searching, Yarnell’s confession brought some closure.

“Knowing Mike confessed helped, a lot,” Asher-Chapman said. “I know in my heart that Angie is never coming home. That glimmer of hope is gone now but I still don’t have her home.”

Attempts to locate Angie Yarnell’s remains were unsuccessful, leaving Asher-Chapman hanging from a shorter thread.

“You know you are finally this close to ending this horrible nightmare but then again, you’re not,” she said. “It’s a very hard place to find yourself. As grim as it sounds, I only need one bone. A finger even, just anything to prove to me that it’s over.”

“You almost feel guilty,” Asher-Chapman said. “You reach a point that you don’t think you can go on without it and at the same time you see your friends suffering and you want (closure) for them, too.”

Peggy Florence’s daughter, Jasmine Haslag, has been missing since June 2007.

Florence said her daughter’s case was classified a homicide nine months after she went missing, but the investigation is still ongoing and she doesn’t feel any closer now than she did when she first reported Jasmine missing.

“Having closure is something we all want,” Florence said. “Even though we want it badly because the pain of dealing with this is so hard, we dread it. We dread finally knowing that our daughter isn’t coming home and the hope is gone.”

After Thursday’s call, perhaps Roberts may find closure after the pain subsides.

According to the National Crime Information Center, nearly 1,600 people are listed as missing in Missouri. Several unsolved cases in Mid-Missouri include four in Camden County, three in Morgan County and two in Eldon.

[sarahhod]

Yarnell heads to court Tuesday

http://www.lakesunleader.com/news/x497787832/Yarnell-heads-to-court-Tuesday

By Deanna Wheeler
Lake Sun Leader
Mon Jan 12, 2009, 08:39 PM CST


http://i44.tinypic.com/dvmrfq.jpg
Michael Yarnell will be in court Tuesday morning for a preliminary hearing on the two separate cases against him. The most recent case, filed in early December 2008, is for the murder of his wife, Angie Yarnell.
Yarnell is also facing charges of voluntary manslaughter, first degree involuntary manslaughter and second degree involuntary manslaughter stemming from the same case.
Yarnell was originally extradited back to Morgan County from Biloxi, Miss., where he was living, on charges of forgery and tampering with physical evidence in the disappearance of his wife.
According to information released by the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office, Yarnell and Angie were involved in a dispute sometime around Oct. 26, 2003.
Yarnell allegedly pushed her off the 10-foot deck where she died instantly from blunt-force trauma to the head and a broken neck. He then dumped her body on a small island near their Ivy Bend home.
After several days without contact, Angie’s mother reported her missing to authorities.
Yarnell was arrested five years later by the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office after a postcard he sent to Angie’s mother pretending to be Angie, was alleged to have been written by him.
Yarnell is being held on a $100,000 cash-only bond.
Judge Kevin Schehr is assigned to hear both cases against him.
Authorities searched the island where Yarnell allegedly disposed the body with no recovery.

[sarahhod]

Yarnell arraigned, murder trial moved to Laclede County

http://www.lakesunleader.com/archive/x776445156/g08c0ac371d8ddec9e3867666f3b2e6c8a3412f037f44db.jp g (http://www.lakesunleader.com/archive/x776445156/g25825812689b552ccddde6caafbd735d39ba7e404e6c7d.jp g)

Michael Shane Yarnell

Lake Sun Leader
Fri Feb 13, 2009, 05:00 AM CST


The cases against Michael Yarnell will move to a Laclede County courtroom for trial.
Yarnell is accused of murdering his wife, Angie Yarnell.
Yarnell was granted the change of venue Wednesday during an arraignment hearing in Morgan County, according to court documents.
A trial date has not been set yet.
Besides murder, Yarnell is also facing charges of voluntary manslaughter, first degree involuntary manslaughter and second degree involuntary manslaughter stemming from the same case.
Yarnell was originally extradited back to Morgan County from Biloxi, Miss., where he was living, on charges of forgery and tampering with physical evidence in the disappearance of his wife.
Yarnell and his wife were involved in a dispute sometime around Oct. 26, 2003.
Yarnell allegedly pushed her off the home’s deck where he says she died instantly. He then dumped her body on a small island near their Ivy Bend home.
Yarnell was arrested five years later by the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office after a postcard he sent to Angie’s mother pretending to be Angie was proven it was written by him.
Authorities searched the island Yarnell allegedly disposed the body with no success of recovery.

http://www.lakesunleader.com/news/x776739550/Yarnell-arraigned-murder-trial-moved-to-Laclede-County

[nanabillie]

http://www.connectmidmissouri.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=231981

Marianne Asher-Chapman, mother of Angie Yarnell, speaks out about her daughter's murder Saturday in her Holts Summit home.


http://www.connectmidmissouri.com/uploadedImages/krcg/News/Stories/mom(1).jpg?w=226&h=170&aspect=nostretch
(http://www.connectmidmissouri.com/news/photos.aspx?id=231981)

Photo: 1 of 4


Saturday, December 06, 2008 at 10:37 p.m.

HOLTS SUMMIT -- The family of a missing woman speaks out after authorities say her husband killed her.
Michael Shane Yarnell, of Morgan County, has been charged with second-degree murder, two counts of voluntary manslaughter and one count of involuntary manslaughter for Angie Yarnell's death.
Police have been looking for Michael Yarnell for some time now and finally caught up with him in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Angie Yarnell was 28 when she disappeared in October of 2003.
Morgan County’s sheriff says Michael Yarnell told police he pushed his wife off of a 10-foot high deck during a fight and then dumped her body on a remote island at the Lake of the Ozarks.

For five years, Marianne Asher-Chapman has been waiting for her daughter Angie to come home. It’s something that will never happen.
Friday, authorities charged her Angie Yarnell’s husband for her murder. It's a charge the family was expecting.
<snip>
Since Angie first went missing, her mother has been collecting trinkets to give to her daughter when she returned. This year, an ornament will be added to the growing collection. But it's the last item that will be placed in the trunk.

"At this point, there's no more reason to put anymore presents in the trunk,” said Asher-Chapman.
Finding and bringing Angie's body back home to be buried is what the family hopes for now.
"There's a hole in my heart, but now I feel like I can start to fill that void,” said Campbell.
Authorities in Morgan County spent the day searching for Angie Yarnell’s body. So far, nothing has been recovered.

Side note: Marianne Asher-Chapman and Peggy Florence have founded a website dedicated to the missing and unidentified persons in Missouri. Peggy Florence’s daughter Jasmine Haslag is also missing. Their website is www.missourimissing.org (http://www.missourimissing.org/)