A Fort Pork Solider and his alleged girlfriend have been arrested after the body of the soldier’s wife was found in the trunk of a car.
In a press conference, Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Tony Mancuso said Logan Kyle, 22, was arrested by the U.S. Criminal Investigation Division, and the investigation into his actions will be handled by that agency because he’s an active duty soldier and the slaying allegedly happened on Fort Polk property.
Mancuso’s deputies arrested Sara Parker, 24, believed to be Kyle’s girlfriend, and booked her with obstruction of justice and failure to report a homicide.
On Sunday, Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s office got a call about a woman driving around Lake Charles with a dead body in her trunk. A short time later, deputies found the car traveling on North Franklin Street, and stopped it. They found a dead woman in the trunk, and Parker driving with Kyle as a passenger. Her two children, ages 1 and 2, were also in the car, the sheriff said.
The dead woman was identified as Kyle’s wife; he allegedly confessed to killing her at Fort Polk. Parker allegedly was aware that Kyle killed his wife, and was trying to help him dispose of the body, the sheriff said.
Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Tony Mancuso says both suspects allegedly confessed and more charges may come for Parker, for instance cruelty to juveniles. Her children have been taken into custody by the state, he added.
“What disturbs us about that as law enforcement officers is, you know, when we come in contact it would not be abnormal for us to draw our weapons on what we consider a felony stop. If we had to shoot into this car or they shot back at us or for some reason we could have injured two innocent children,” said Mancuso.
Officials believe the murder took place on Fort Polk military base and then Kyle met up with Parker. They say their investigation leads them to believe that the pair drove around through different parishes trying to find a way to dump the body.
“This was certainly an interesting investigation. In many cases, we don’t get a call until the body is actually found. We actually got this one before it was dumped which made it easier,” said the Calcasieu Sheriff.
Deputies won’t release the name of the victim, because Army regulations require a 24-hour wait after notifying next of kin.
“I think this is just the start in what we believe are strange events that took place both in Leesville and our parish,” said the sheriff.
