A Columbia man is set to make his first court appearance Tuesday afternoon in connection to the case of a woman's body that was found in Perche Creek.
Andrew B. Acton, 53, is set to be arraigned at 1 p.m. at the Boone County Courthouse. He faces charges of abandonment of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence in a felony prosecution.
Court records show Acton's vehicle was seen on May 11 in surveillance photos captured on Burr Oak Road and Star School Road, near the Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area. The photos show Acton's red Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck with a city of Columbia trash bin in the bed of the truck.
Recovered body at Perche Creek identified
A similar-looking trash bin was found by boaters in Perche Creek on May 17. Inside, Boone County Sheriff deputies found the body of an adult woman.
Acton's red pickup truck was later identified using images captured by Flock cameras, according to Boone County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Capt. Brian Leer. He was arrested on May 18 during a traffic stop at a gas station.
During a post Miranda interview, Acton said he could not remember anything about May 11 other than driving around, according to the probable cause statement. Deputies said Acton never denied dumping the trash bin containing the body.
Last Thursday, the Boone County Sheriff's Office announced it had identified the victim as a 47-year-old woman from Columbia. Deputies said they were deferring to the family and friends as to whether the victim's name should be publicly released.
Acton is being held in the Boone County Jail without bond.