Despite the absence of a body, a 27-year-old man was charged Monday with killing and dismembering a 19-year-old Moorhead woman who has been missing for more than two weeks.
Ethan M. Broad of Moorhead was charged in Clay County District Court with second-degree unintentional murder in connection with the death of Dystynee Avery, who moved from Colorado to Moorhead.
"The investigation led to the belief that foul play was involved" in the death of Avery, said a statement Saturday night from Police Capt. Deric Swenson.
Avery was last seen April 3 in south Moorhead, where the investigation has focused on the area near Broad's apartment in the 1300 block of S. 28th Avenue, Swenson said.
Broad was arrested Friday afternoon, appeared in court Monday and remains jailed. His attorney was not immediately available to respond to the allegations.
In an interview with police soon after Avery was reported missing, Broad told authorities that he dismembered her in his garage and threw the bagged body parts into apartment dumpsters, adding that he acted in self-defense, the criminal complaint read. A motive was not addressed in the complaint.
A search of the garage turned up a saw with traces of human remains and a blue tote bin with "a large amount of blood inside," the complaint continued. Video surveillance shows Broad dragging a blue bin from his apartment building to the garage area, the court filing said.
Evidence of blood being cleaned up in Broad's apartment also was collected, the complaint said.
