Woman charged with murder after body found burning outside house in Missouri

COLUMBIA, Mo. — A woman has been charged with murder after a body was reportedly found burning outside a house in Columbia, Missouri.

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On Twitter, Columbia Police Department said at around 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, the University of Missouri Police Department was called out to do a welfare check at Hudson Hall on the University of Missouri campus. CPD said the investigation led MUPD to the 2400 block of Bentley Court where officers found human remains that were unidentifiable and appeared to be in a suspicious manner,

The student who MUPD was called out to do a welfare check had reportedly not been in his dorm in two days, according to a statement obtained by KMIZ. He was autistic and high-functioning. Police were led to Bentley Court after tracking down information about an Uber, which the student was seen on video entering and had taken him to the location.

Emma Adams, 20, was reportedly asleep in the house at Bentley Court but woke up and let investigators inside, according to KMIZ. When investigators went into the backyard, they reportedly found human remains burning in a fire pit and could smell the burning flesh.

According to a probable cause statement obtained by KRCG, Adams allegedly told investigators that the person to who the remains belonged was a man who was reportedly beating her. She allegedly admitted to investigators that she stabbed the man in self-defense.

Investigators reportedly found blood on a car at the scene, inside the house, and in the backyard. They also reportedly found a bloody folding knife in the kitchen, according to KMIZ.

CPD said they developed probable cause to arrest Adams for second-degree murder, armed criminal action, tampering with physical evidence, and abandonment of a corpse.

Adams is being held on a $1 million bond, according to KRCG.

KMIZ reported that investigators think they know the person to who the remains belong but are in the process of notifying the next of kin.

No further information has been released.

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