Missing 21-year-old found buried in Missouri barn after leaving home with uncle and girlfriend
- The body of 21-year-old Jesse Wilfong was found buried in a barn in Missouri on June 18.
- Wilfong was reported missing by her mother, Cathy, on May 25
- The remains of the missing woman were found in a barn near the home of her uncle’s friend
- Teresa L., 59 Baumgartner was arrested in connection with the crime and charged with falsifying physical evidence in a criminal investigation
By Vanessa Serna for Dailymail.Com
Posted: 17:21, 24 June 2022 | Updated: 18:06, 24 June 2022
A 21-year-old woman who went missing in May was found buried in a barn in Missouri.
Jesse Wilfong was reported missing by her mother, Katie Wilfong, on May 25, nearly a week after last seeing her daughter at her residence in Millersville on May 19.
Jesse is said to have met his uncle Lawrence Shanda and his girlfriend Teresa L. Baumgartner, 59, last night when she was last seen by her mother, revealed Cathy in the podcast The Lawless Files.
Surveillance footage from a neighbor filmed Jesse arriving at his uncle’s home and never leaving, according to her mother.
Jesse’s phone died the night she disappeared, Cathy said. Over time, she realized that something was wrong when her daughter did not update her social media platforms, which she found “strange.”
Jesse Wilfong, 21, was reported missing by her mother, Cathy, on May 25. Cathy last saw her daughter on May 19 at her residence in Millersville
Cathy claims her daughter was never seen leaving the home of Lawrence Shanda and Baumgartner (left)
Teresa L., 59 Baumgartner arrested and charged with falsifying physical evidence in connection with Wilfong’s disappearance
According to a probable reason, filed by obt. Jaime Holloway, undisclosed information led investigators from the office of the sheriff of Cape Girardeau County to a residence in the county, belonging to Baumgartner and Shanda, on June 15, reports The Southeast Missourian.
At home, investigators found that the carpet in the living room had been removed, KFVS News reported.
“From the evidence gathered and other information obtained from the investigation process, it is suspected that unfair play was involved in Ms. Wilfong’s disappearance,” Sheriff Ruth Ann Dickerson wrote in a press release.
On June 18, the deputies were taken to a barn “in the immediate vicinity” of Baumgartner’s residence. Investigators found part of the land recently forged – where Jesse’s remains were later found.
Two days later, her death was declared murder.
Baumgartner was arrested on June 21 in connection with Jesse’s disappearance and charged with falsifying physical evidence in a criminal investigation. An auger rented by Baumgartner on May 24 was found in the barn.
Shanda, meanwhile, has not been arrested or charged in connection with the case. However, he told officers on June 8 that he had a verbal quarrel with his niece on May 19 after she claimed to have provided law enforcement with information about his illegal drug activities.
The investigation is ongoing.
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