FORT SMITH, Ark. -- Police said the body of missing Fort Smith woman Cassie Cotta has been found in rural Crawford County.
Police said her husband, Brent Cotta, has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with her death.
"We began to kind of focus around the husband because of certain inconsistencies," Fort Smith Police Department Sgt. Daniel Grubbs said. "In basic stories and series of events and timelines he was giving us kind of coordinated that with neighbors in the area, which proved further inconsistencies."
Cassie Cotta, 24, who was last seen on Friday, Dec. 30, had been the subject of an intense effort from family and friends to spread the word about her disappearance. Friends and family have gathered in Fort Smith for the past two days to pass out flyers and visit neighborhoods.
Brent Cotta, spoke to 40/29 News earlier in the day on Tuesday. He said the only thing he wanted was for her to come home safe.
"She's colorful, she's irritable, she's blunt, she's beautiful," he said. "She's perfect."
Police said they obtained information from Cotta that helped them locate his wife's body. They also said they found evidence about her disappearance at the couple's home.
"We actually looked in and processed some evidence at the home of the two," Grubbs said. "We processed some evidence of a vehicle and actually recovered some evidence for both locations."
"It kind of alerted us that this may have been foul play, versus kind of being a more voluntary absence for Ms. Cotta," Grubbs said.
Cassie's mother, Pearl Cook, told 40/29 News that it was unlike her daughter to not call. She said her daughter used Facebook every day and the fact that nothing had been posted on her page since Friday was worrisome.
Police said there were no visual signs of trauma to Cassie Cotta's body when she was found.
"There's enough at this point that we're confident and we're comfortable in saying this was a homicide," Grubbs said.
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FORT SMITH, Ark. -- Police said the body of missing Fort Smith woman Cassie Cotta has been found in rural Crawford County.
Police said her husband, Brent Cotta, has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with her death.
"We began to kind of focus around the husband because of certain inconsistencies," Fort Smith Police Department Sgt. Daniel Grubbs said. "In basic stories and series of events and timelines he was giving us kind of coordinated that with neighbors in the area, which proved further inconsistencies."
Cassie Cotta, 24, who was last seen on Friday, Dec. 30, had been the subject of an intense effort from family and friends to spread the word about her disappearance. Friends and family have gathered in Fort Smith for the past two days to pass out flyers and visit neighborhoods.
Brent Cotta, spoke to 40/29 News earlier in the day on Tuesday. He said the only thing he wanted was for her to come home safe.
"She's colorful, she's irritable, she's blunt, she's beautiful," he said. "She's perfect."
Police said they obtained information from Cotta that helped them locate his wife's body. They also said they found evidence about her disappearance at the couple's home.
"We actually looked in and processed some evidence at the home of the two," Grubbs said. "We processed some evidence of a vehicle and actually recovered some evidence for both locations."
"It kind of alerted us that this may have been foul play, versus kind of being a more voluntary absence for Ms. Cotta," Grubbs said.
Cassie's mother, Pearl Cook, told 40/29 News that it was unlike her daughter to not call. She said her daughter used Facebook every day and the fact that nothing had been posted on her page since Friday was worrisome.
Police said there were no visual signs of trauma to Cassie Cotta's body when she was found.
"There's enough at this point that we're confident and we're comfortable in saying this was a homicide," Grubbs said.
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