The boyfriend of a missing 25-year-old North Dakota woman — who was last seen on New Year’s Eve — is suspected of killing her and possibly dismembering her body, which has not been located, according to authorities.
Police arrested 21-year-old Joshua Alexander Hite on Tuesday, February 10, on charges of murder and tampering with evidence in relation to Isadora Wengel’s disappearance, the Fargo Police Department said in a news release issued that same day.
Hite was taken into custody outside of his Fargo apartment “without incident,” according to police.
At a February 11 news conference on Hite’s arrest, Fargo Police Department Chief David Zibolski announced that investigators “do not believe that Isadora is alive.”
“What we believe, based on the investigation thus far, is that Isadora Wengel was heinously murdered,” Zibolski said.
The chief added that police have probable cause to believe that Hite “is the person who murdered and tampered with evidence related to the disposal of her body.”
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It was not immediately clear whether Hite had retained legal representation or entered a plea following his arrest.
Now, investigators are working to locate and recover Isadora’s body and have asked the public for their help.
Authorities are asking community members to keep an eye out for a 27-gallon black storage tote with a red lid, as it is potential evidence “related to the disposal of Wengel’s remains or other evidence critical to the investigation,” the Fargo Police Department said in a Wednesday, February 11, news release.
Hite might have dismembered Wengel’s remains, according to Zibolski.
“We believe this to be a heinous and diabolical crime, and we believe that there may be some dismemberment involved,” Zibolski said at the news conference.
Wengel disappeared from West Fargo on December 31, according to the FBI, which is helping Fargo police and West Fargo police in investigating her death.
She was officially reported missing to West Fargo police back on January 7, the Fargo Police Department said.
Hite was previously detained in early January in connection to Wengel’s death, after police learned two black storage totes with red lids were delivered to his home, according to Zibolski. Police executed a search warrant on January 9, finding just one of the totes, and he was released after authorities were unable to find probable cause.
Despite being let go, Hite remained a strong person of interest in the case. Following his first release, investigators spent the next month developing a probable cause for his arrest. However, Zibolski did not share the evidence they found in order to complete Hite’s latest arrest.
Investigators are hopeful that they will locate Wengel’s remains as snow and ice continue to melt, according to Zibolski.
“We know the disposal of her body occurred in extremely cold weather with significant snow on the ground, we now find ourselves in the midst of a mid-winter thaw, which may reveal her whereabouts,” he said.
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The second 27-gallon storage tote possibly linked to Wengel’s disappearance might be located “in the area between the Fargo, Moorhead & West Fargo metro area and Otter Tail County, Minnesota, specifically the Fergus Falls, Elizabeth, Underwood and Battle Lake areas,” according to the Fargo Police Department.
Amid the investigation, detectives took part in a 10-day landfill search that spanned 12-hour shifts. Additionally, search warrants were issued in Fargo and Otter Tail County, Minnesota, while police officers also took part in an extensive evidence review.
The department is asking anyone with possible information on the storage tote or Wengel’s remains to call the agency at (701) 51-7660 “or the local agency in the jurisdiction of which evidence may be located.”
The FBI said that tips can also be submitted to the Red River Regional Dispatch Center at (701) 451-7660 or the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI.
