Authorities have found human remains thought to be those of a missing St. Louis-area woman who disappeared last week and whose husband has been charged in her murder, police said.
Authorities still need a " total confirmation," but investigators believe the body is that of Jennifer Rothwell, 28, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. The discovery was made about 11:30 p.m. Monday.
Authorities searched an area near a highway in Lincoln County, which is northwest of St. Louis County, after Rothwell's husband, Beau Rothwell, gave police information about the location of her body, St. Louis County police Chief Jon Belmar told reporters earlier Monday evening.
"Obviously, I think we knew, unfortunately, with last week's events that this was something that was not going to end in a positive manner," Belmar said earlier Monday night.
Jennifer Rothwell was reported missing Nov. 12. She lived with her husband in St. Louis County.
Beau Rothwell, 28, has been charged with second-degree murder in her disappearance. Police have said that he was seen buying bleach and gloves the day before she vanished and that a subsequent search of their home found blood in carpeting.
He was arrested and charged last week with felony tampering with evidence and second-degree murder.
On Wednesday, the day after she was reported missing, detectives searched their home and found empty cleaning bottles, carpet soaked with bleach and "large areas of blood in carpeting and underlying pad," police said in a statement Friday.
"DNA from the victim’s mother and father was analyzed and is consistent with the blood found in the carpet," police said in that statement.
Jennifer Rothwell's car was found about two miles from her home.
Lincoln County is northwest of St. Louis County. Belmar said he was not aware of any connection to the area searched with the suspect.
