A boyfriend was charged Monday in the death of a 41-year-old woman whose ice-entombed body was found under a bridge in a holding pond south of the Minnesota River in Burnsville.
Uriah D. Schulz, 40, of Apple Valley, was charged in Dakota County District Court with unintentional second-degree murder in connection with the death of Elizabeth V. Perrault, 41, on Nov. 1, 2017. Schulz remains held without bail ahead of Tuesday's initial court appearance.
Among the evidence against Schulz: His gas station rewards card was used after Perrault was last seen during several purchases made with a financial transaction card belonging to her.
Police began their investigation on Feb. 22, when two of Perrault's friends reported her missing. Her body was spotted encased in ice on April 22 by a fisherman about 5 miles north of her home in a holding pond near Interstate 35W and Black Dog Road. She was wearing a bathrobe, and the body was wrapped in a blanket bound by two cords around her lower legs, police said.
An aunt, Schar Ward, recalled Perrault as "a beautiful little girl, but as she grew older, she was a very troubled soul." Ward said Perrault struggled with alcoholism, and everyone close to her "wishes they had reached out more," the aunt said.
According to the criminal complaint:
At the time of Perrault's disappearance on Nov. 1, Schulz was living with her in her apartment. At her parents' request, police went to her apartment on Dec. 13 and saw her personal belongings gone and a few pieces of furniture remaining.
The fisherman found her body two months after the investigation began. An autopsy detected blows to the right side of Perrault's face, with broken bones around her eye and cheek.
