Missouri deputies found a missing pregnant woman from Arkansas dead with gunshot wounds – then recovered the remains of her unborn child from another location, investigators have revealed.
Ashley Bush was 33 years old and 31 weeks pregnant when she disappeared last week, according to at the Benton County Sheriff’s Office.
“We have sad news that we can announce that we have located Ashley Bush, who we believe has been murdered,” Sheriff Shawn Holloway said at a press briefing Thursday. “We also found her baby, Valkyrie Grace Willis, who also died and was found in a separate location.”
Authorities in McDonald County, Missouri, have a man and a woman in custody for first-degree kidnapping, Holloway said. The FBI is also involved in the case, he added, and additional charges are possible in one or both states and in federal court.
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Ashley Bush, a pregnant woman from Arkansas, was last seen alive on Halloween. Amber and Jamie Waterman were arrested in Missouri after her remains were found there – in a separate location from those of her unborn child.
(Benton County Sheriff’s Office, McDonald County Sheriff’s Office)
Amber and Jamie Waterman, a married couple, were both arrested in Missouri this week, authorities said.
The bodies were both found in Missouri, but investigators were still investigating where the deaths occurred, Smith said. He declined to provide further details on how the mother and child were separated. He also said it was too early in the investigation to discuss a possible motive.
He said evidence suggests Bush thought she was on her way to a job interview when she was abducted and killed.
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Benton County Sheriff Shawn Holloway and District Attorney Nathan Smith announced the gruesome discovery of the bodies of Ashley Bush and her unborn daughter during a press conference on Thursday, November 3, 2021.
(Benton County Sheriff)
“What’s important to remember is that it’s still early days,” he said. “We have an obligation to tell the public what we know, at this stage, so that they know that we have unfortunately found [Bush and Valkyrie]and they were murdered based on the evidence we know now.”
Bush was last seen in the passenger seat of a stranger’s vehicle on Halloween at the intersection of highways 72 and 43 in Maysville.
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Bush met the driver, identified by the false name “Lucy,” online as part of his search for a job that would allow him to work from home, authorities said.
Benton County District Attorney Nathan Smith said investigators believe “Lucy” was Amber Waterman’s “made up character”.
“It’s just a reminder that there is evil in the world, that people do bad things and that someone would go after a pregnant woman in her most vulnerable state, it’s unimaginable, but unfortunately that’s the world we live in,” Smith said.