Police Responded to a Refrigerator in Flames on the Roadside — and Made a Sad Discovery that Solved a Weeks-Long Mystery

A Tennessee man has been charged with killing his girlfriend, transporting her body in a refrigerator, and setting it on fire.

Edward Randolph, 49, faces one count of first-degree murder and one count of abuse of a corpse in the death of 46-year-old Hope Parrott, according to an Aug. 7 press release from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. He is being held on a $50,000 bond.

Authorities say the investigation began on July 31, when Parrott’s body was found on Sunk Cane Road in Crawford. The District Attorney General for Tennessee’s 13th Judicial District said in a Facebook statement that her remains had been “discarded and burned.”

The Overton County Sheriff’s Department told McClatchy News that officers discovered the refrigerator containing Parrott’s body after a woman reported a fire along a rural road around 1 a.m. on July 31.

Parrott’s family had reported her missing on July 5 after they were unable to reach her, according to McClatchy News.