By Tim StellohNBC
News
A married couple was charged with kidnapping Thursday after the body of a missing pregnant woman and the baby she was carrying were found dead at different locations in Missouri, authorities announced.
Ashley Bush, 33, and 31 weeks pregnant, responded to a job advertisement on Monday.
After exchanging several messages over the Internet with a person named Lucy, the two met that same day at a convenience store in Maysville, in the extreme northwest of Arkansas.
Ashley Bush was found dead after responding to a job ad in Missouri. Benton County Sheriff's Office
According to investigations, Bush believed she was going to be driven to Bentonville, nearly 30 miles away, for a job interview, but she disappeared.
But authorities believe she never got around to it.
Her body was found dead on Thursday, while her baby, named Valkyrie Grace Willis, was located a day earlier in a different location from her mother.
Authorities believe that Lucy was actually Amber Waterman.
She and her partner Jamie were arrested in the case.
Although for now they were only accused of kidnapping, prosecutor Nathan Smith advanced that he hopes to file additional charges against them soon, presumably two for homicide according to state law, which contemplates the charge of murder if the victim is a pregnant woman.
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The investigations indicate that Bush died of a shot, according to the prosecutor, who specified that "the baby was not found with the mother", although he did not give more details.
Amber and Jamie Waterman were admitted to the McDonald County Detention Center in Missouri on suspicion of first-degree kidnapping after the local sheriff's office reported the discovery of human remains that appeared to be related to the disappearance. of Bush.
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This case “is just a reminder that there is evil in the world,” Smith said.
“People do bad things.
For someone to take advantage of a pregnant woman in her most vulnerable state is unimaginable.
This is the world we live in, ”she lamented.
The prosecutor said that for now the motive that led to the woman's death has not been established.