Police continued Thursday to investigate when, how and where the killing took place of a woman whose body was found in Benton County.
The body of 49-year-old Sylvia Ann Ussery-Pearson of Overland Park, Kan. was found about 6 p.m. Tuesday near a water tank next to the Lodge on Whitney Mountain in Garfield, according to a news release from the Benton County Sheriff's Office.
An autopsy was performed on the body Thursday, said Capt. Jim Sutterby with the Overland Park Police Investigations Division.
"We have a pretty good idea of the timeline, when he picked her up," Sutterby said. "We have a good overview of what took place."
Charles Pearson, 51, her husband, walked into a Country Inn & Suites in Kansas City, Kan. on Tuesday and told the general manager he killed his wife, said Jonathon Westbrook, a spokesman for Kansas City, Kan., police. Pearson told the general manager he had a gun and was headed to a nearby shopping district, Westbrook said.
Pearson was waiting for officers when they arrived. He got out of his car, fired several shots at officers, who returned fire and killed him, Westbrook said.
Pearson was a former U.S. Army Ranger who served for more than 20 years and had multiple tours in Iraq, according to the Associated Press.
The couple were having marital struggles, Sutterby said.
It is still not known why Ussery-Pearson's body was found in Benton County, he said.
John Lacy, public information officer with Overland Park police, said Wednesday Pearson once lived in Arkansas, but he didn't know where.
"We have no reason why he took her to that area," Sutterby said of Benton County. "Maybe that question will get answered and maybe it won't."
It still hasn't been established if Ussery-Pearson was killed in Kansas and her body dumped in Benton County or if she was killed in Benton County, Overland Park officials said.
A family member filed a missing person report for Ussery-Pearson late Monday afternoon, according to Overland Park police.
Ussery-Pearson left her home in Kansas with her estranged husband earlier that morning, but throughout the day, family and friends were unable to contact her, according to Overland Park police.
Police contacted Pearson on Monday night. He agreed to an interview and was cooperative. He said he didn't know where his wife was, according to police. He gave consent for police to search his vehicle and his home in Lenexa, Kan.
Charles Pearson told friends Tuesday morning he was suicidal and he had harmed his wife, according to Overland Park police.
Investigators found a handwritten note from Pearson indicating the possible location of his wife's body during a search of his home, police said.
"We only know that she ended up in Benton County because that's where Mr. Pearson said that he took her in his note," Overland Park Police Chief Frank Donchez Jr., told the Kansas City Star newspaper Wednesday. Donchez described the note as a diagram.
"It was pretty accurate because they found her relatively quickly," he said.
Sutterby thanked the Benton County Sheriff's Office for its help on the case.
"They processed the scene, collected the evidence," he said. "We had great cooperation. They were willing to do a lot of things for us. They were super to work with."
NW News on 08/16/2019