Human remains, including bone fragments and teeth, recovered from a fire pit in Hutchinson, Minn., may be connected to the disappearance of a 25-year-old man from Annandale, Minn.
The Wright County Sheriff's Office said investigators searched the Hutchinson home of Robert Nuttall and Gwen Butcher last week. Nuttall, 28, was charged in September with kidnapping Christopher Rossing, and is jailed. Nuttall's girlfriend, Gwen M. Butcher, 33, was charged with aiding an offender after the fact.
Human remains were found at the residence and recovered from a cornfield across the street, the sheriff said.
Wright County Sheriff's Capt. Todd Hoffman said the search came after a private citizen found "suspicious items" in the cornfield. Rossing's disappearance is now being handled as a death investigation, the Sheriff's Office said.
Investigators have determined that Rossing was involved in "a physical altercation" with Nuttall about 1:30 a.m. Aug. 23 along Hwy. 12 in Howard Lake, according to Wright County Sheriff Joe Hagerty. The two had been drinking earlier at the American Legion, according to the charges.
Rossing's car was found in Howard Lake four days after he vanished. It was parked in a lot between a gas station and a flower shop with the keys in the ignition and the windows down.
According to the charges against both defendants:
Rossing and Nuttall were at the American Legion and flirting with the same woman, creating friction between the two. Butcher arrived and was irritated that Nuttall had been paying attention to another woman and spending money.
