Michael Owens: Husband charged with murder of missing Mississippi woman Ebony Owens
HINDS COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI: Michael Owens, the husband of Ebony Owens, a Mississippi woman who went missing, has been charged with her murder after police found evidence suggesting that the victim was shot and killed.
Apparently, 36-year-old Ebony Owens was reported missing on March 15 by her family members after she failed to show up for work, according to Hinds County Sheriff Tyree Jones. The sheriff also announced that her husband, Michael, was wanted for questioning in connection with her disappearance in a press conference. Hours later, Michael was recovered from an apartment at the Ridgeland Ranch Apartments and interviewed, then authorities charged him with the murder and arson of Ebony, according to a report by WAPT.
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How did Ebony Owens die?
Authorities believe that the mother of four was shot and killed. Currently, the police, along with local volunteers are conducting a search for her body at the Big Black River on Old Highway 80 between the Hinds and Warren County lines, the sheriff wrote in a Facebook post.
Electronic evidence suggested that Ebony was last located to be in the Clinton area on the night of March 14, which is about 18 miles east of her home in Edwards, where officers responded to a welfare check on Wednesday. Her car was also nowhere to be found. The next morning, first responders came across a burning white Acura along Old Highway 80 and Jones Road, according to a WLBT report.
'We just had a burned vehicle'
"Initially, the vehicle fire, that was yesterday morning, we didn't even know who that vehicle belonged to, we didn't know the make [or] model, ownership of the vehicle, or anything, " Sheriif Jones told the news outlet. "We just had a burned vehicle. So when deputies responded to the residence for the welfare check, they were able to link it," the sheriff added.
Later, police found a license plate in the woods near where the car was found, and determined that the vehicle belonged to Ebony. The sheriff also said that there was evidence suggesting that the car was intentionally set on fire.
As of now, it is not clear if the suspect has entered a plea or retained an attorney to speak on his behalf.
