The body of a missing pregnant woman, along with the body of the baby she was pregnant with, have both been found. The Benton County, Arkansas woman, Ashley Bush, had last been seen alive on Halloween.
The bodies were found in separate locations in McDonald, Missouri. Now, a couple is facing charges in connection with the murders.
According to Benton County Sheriff Shawn Holloway, who spoke at a press conference, Amber and Jamie Waterman are in custody in McDonald, Missouri. They're being held on first-degree kidnapping charges with more charges to follow.
The case is simply devastating. “This was one of the most horrific cases that I had been personally involved with,” Holloway said at the press conference.
Authorities say they don't yet know if Bush died in Arkansas or Missouri.
The FBI was involved in arresting the Watermans. Authorities say that federal charges are likely.
According to Benton County Prosecuting Attorney Nathan Smith, authorities believe that both parties were involved in the murder. He said, "… obviously as the facts play out, and the investigation continues, we’ll know the extent of that involvement for both of them. But evidence is, at this point, that there was reason to hold both of them for charges."
The victim was 31 weeks pregnant at the time of her disappearance. It seems that she may have fallen for a scam that led to her death. She was reportedly last seen in the passenger seat of a tan pickup truck in Maysville, Arkansas.
According to a police statement, “The driver was a White woman in her 40s with shoulder-length brown hair who stated her name was ‘Lucy.’ Ashley met Lucy online when she was looking for a job working from home."
The statement continued, "Lucy picked her up that morning at the Handi-Mart in Maysville to take her to a job interview in Bentonville." Investigators believe “Lucy” was actually Amber Waterman.
Police say that Bush was found in a completely different location than the baby. The Watermans had apparently tried to tell authorities that Amber Waterman had given birth and the baby wasn't breathing, according to McDonald County Coroner William Goodwin.
“We had a 911 call that this woman had given birth and the baby had quit breathing,” he said. “Two of my deputies as well as EMS and first responders did CPR trying to save the baby but were unsuccessful.”
He continued that it became quickly evident that the baby's identity was connected to the kidnapping that had previously been reported. “The baby was cut out of the mother after the mother was killed,” he said. “I don’t know if the baby came out alive or dead.”
Police believe that Bush died from a gunshot wound.
