Norton reportedly assisted Phelps in carrying Rainwaters body back inside the residence and into a bathtub. In a Facebook post, Sheriff Rice addressed rumors in the investigation into the disappearance of Cassidy Rainwater. It is not a good idea to listen to a crime reporter/blogger or Tik Tok videos. After receiving the information from the FBI, deputies went back out to Moon Valley Road and recognized items in Phelps backyard that coincided with the photos.. A probable cause statement says on September 16th, the FBI office in Kansas City received an. Two men are charged with her murder after photos showed her evisceration and dismemberment By Andrea Marks November 18,. Investigators say DNA testing identified her remains. In another strange development, on Oct. 4, a fire started at Phelps property where Rainwaters remains were found burned the house to the ground. They Refused to Fight for Russia. In a September announcement of Phelps arrest, Sheriff Scott Rice had said, Due to the extreme nature of the crime and the continuation of the investigation, additional details cannot be released at this time., Editors picks In the weeks following the arrest, rumors spread on TikTok that the two men had been butchering humans and storing, even selling, their meat. Both remain jailed in Dallas County. Authorities say remains found at the southwest Missouri home were those of a missing woman, 33-year-old Cassidy Rainwater. He encouraged people not to listen to TikTok creators sitting in their apartment or their mommy and daddys basement eating Great Value cheese puffs and drinking box wine with grand intentions of being a social media superstar, and added that 99.999999 percent of what has been posted to social media is CRAP. He also discouraged people from traveling to the area to trespass, litter, vandalize, harass, or destroy property.. Phelps' co-defendant, Timothy Norton, faces the same charges. Deputies report they found other DNA belonging to Cassidy on an adjacent property belonging to the late Bill Rainwater, Cassidy's grandfather. Fire crews from multiple stations were working to put out hotspots. Phelps' case was moved to Jasper County last week. Police had found her remains in a freezer in September, and according to reports, in containers that were labelled with the date 7/24, and which later matched DNA for Ms Rainwater. An . On Sept. 16, investigators received a search warrant for James Phelps' cellphone, and court records say they found seven photos of Cassidy Rainwater partially nude being held in a cage on his property on Moon Valley Road in Lebanon in Dallas County. During the hearing, prosecutors asked for 45 days until the preliminary hearing due to the number of witnesses needed. Police interviewed Timothy Norton on the disappearance of Rainwater. , updated The new charges come after remains recovered at Phelps property just days after his arrest were positively identified as Rainwaters. (KY3) - The worst fears of Cassidy Rainwater's family and friends were confirmed Wednesday. 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Per court records, James Phelps told police the last time he saw Cassidy was on this day. Mom Ana Walshe, Charged with Murder, Newlywed Found Decapitated in Her Home, Her Husband of 3 Months Allegedly Confessed to Killing Her, Ex-Boyfriend Accused of Murdering, Dismembering New York Woman and Stuffing Remains in Suitcase, La. Geo resource failed to load. He noted there is a lot of misinformation circulating in the case. Rainwater has ties to the Kansas City area. "Phelps stated that, about a month prior, Cassidy had met a vehicle at the end of the driveway and left in the middle of the night," the statement alleges. He wrote that he was upset with social media and bloggers thinking they knew what happened. The two later carried her dismembered body inside to the bathtub. Those items were dated July 24. KOLR-TV is in contact with local authorities daily, but they are not releasing much information. Cassidy Rainwater, 33, was reported missing in late August, having been last seen with someone identified as James Rainwater. Some photos showed the womans body bound to a gantry crane, commonly used for deer processing, and her evisceration and dismemberment, the Dallas County Sheriffs Department posted on its Facebook page back then. The home in Missouri where a man is accused of holding missing woman Cassidy Rainwater captive in a cage has burned down as he waits for trial in jail. The men also were charged with abandonment of a corpse. Wiliams lives in Urbana, about half an hour away from the site of Monday nights fire. Admonishing true crime fans who were sitting in their apartment or their mommy and daddys basement eating Great Value cheese puffs and drinking box wine, he went on to say that the public should stop hanging on very word is this type of crap. Messages between Phelps and Norton showed the two men planning the murder of Cassidy Rainwater, police said. James Phelps, 58, is charged alongside. Dallas County Sheriff's Office Detectives then identified. Per court documents, investigators say Norton admitted that Phelps asked him to help kill Rainwater while she was staying at Phelps home. Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. Phelps, 60, is charged with first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping and abandonment of a corpse in the case of 33-year-old Cassidy Rainwater. Details about the death of a 33-year-old woman whose remains were discovered in a freezer have been revealed, a month after authorities asked online sleuths to stop speculating about her disappearance. She would stop by, and she would talk to us when we were outside working. 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The woman was described as sleeping when the attack took place. Authorities arrested Phelps and then found the slew of evidence on his property that was revealed by the sheriffs office on Wednesday. (TCD) -- Two Missouri men accused of kidnapping Cassidy Rainwater also face murder charges after Rainwaters dismembered remains were found in a freezer and on a nearby property. He said that Rainwater had been talking about going to Colorado. Because of both the complexity of death penalty cases and full case loads for a small staff, they tend to be more drawn out. Mr Norton will reportedly plead not guilty and appear in court on Friday, after admitting that he strangled Ms Rainwater, according to Fox4. The mystery surrounding the fate of a Missouri woman who vanished over the summer has finally been solvedbut the details about what really happened to Cassidy Rainwater are more ghastly than anyone could have imagined. The remarks followed a fire at the home of Mr Phelps in October, with investigators finding tripwires at the property. 2 killed, 4 wounded in Mississippi shooting; man arrested, 150 years later, Dixon bridge tragedy among nation's worst, Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy says he wants to 'shut down the FBI' and replace it with something that sounds a lot like the FBI, Sanders: Biden could win in a landslide, Sunny Hostin Responded To Meghan McCain's Recent Scathing Criticism Of "The View" And Thinks She'd Be Great For "Housewives", Possible tornado damage in Fort Hood, Texas, Colts chart new QB path with 1st-round pick Richardson. SPRINGFIELD, Mo. DALLAS COUNTY, Mo. An amended criminal complaint shows the two men each still face a kidnapping charge as well as a felony count of abandonment of a corpse, saying they knowingly disposed of the corpse of Cassidy Rainwater at or near Phelps property without notifying authorities. The tipster advised there was a photo showing a missing person, Cassidy Rainwater, being held in a cage in a partially nude state. Shes a member of the investigative team focusing on watchdog journalism. Per court records, that is when he admitted details to authorities about restraining Rainwater back in July. The Sheriffs Office said in a news release that a crime lab confirmed the remains recovered from the freezer were Rainwaters. Norton was arrested on September 20 after speaking to authorities. I refuse to do it | Opinion, Clark Hunt says hes surprised Chiefs players griped about facilities. Williams says that a lack of information coming from investigating authorities is leading an entire community to speculate. James David Phelps, 58, told investigators that he was helping the 33-year-old woman "get back on her feet" and that she had been living in the loft area of his cabin at 386 Moon Valley Road. Phelps and Norton were arrested back in September of 2021 after authorities say they obtained photos of Rainwater in a cage on Phelps property. Investigators say Norton admitted to holding down Rainwaters legs while Phelps strangled her. If these people have committed such horrible crimes as they are accused, I hope the legal system prosecutes them to the fullest extent, said the woman. Investigators say they dismembered her body in a bathtub. Deputies searched the property for seven days, according to the Dallas County Sheriffs Department. Two men were charged with first-degree murder on Wednesday after human remains found inside a freezer at a Missouri home were positively identified through DNA testing as Cassidy Rainwater, who was photographed half-naked inside a cage after she went missing before suffering a grisly death. In reality, police say, the whole time Phelps claimed he was graciously letting Rainwater stay with him until she got back on her feet, he was actually plotting her murder. Deputies went to Phelps home at 386 Moon Valley Road near Windyville and asked if he knew Rainwater. The address listed for him on online court systems and court documents showed the same address as James Phelps home on Moon Valley Road. One of two southwest Missouri men charged in the gruesome killing of a woman who authorities say was kept in a cage entered a plea on Friday. Porter anticipated Phelps' trial would occur in the summer of 2025, which would be four years after Rainwater's death. Murder charges have been filed in Missouri against two men accused of killing and dismembering Cassidy Rainwater . Cassidy Rainwater's remains were found labeled "7-24" in a freezer. According to court documents, Phelps told the detective that about a month prior, Cassidy left in the middle of the night and met a vehicle at the end of the driveway in the dark and had not been seen or heard from since. The Springfield Bomb Squad also received a call to assist at the scene. That tip led the FBI to Dallas County, about 160 miles southeast of Kansas City, and launched what became a secretive, weeks-long criminal investigation. On Wednesday, the Dallas County Sheriffs Department announced the murder charges against Timothy Norton, 56, and James Phelps, 58, in a statement on Facebook, and court documents reveal new disturbing details of the case. . We could feel the heat, said Nicholson. Phelps and Norton have been jailed on a kidnapping charge since mid-September, when photos of Rainwater partially nude and confined to a cage were found on Phelps' phone, authorities said. 2023 Rolling Stone, LLC. Sheriff Rice said more of her remains were found scattered on a nearby property belonging to her grandfather Bill Rainwater. ", The statement adds: "Detectives recognized items in Phelps back yard that coincided with the photos. In a 2003 yearbook from Harrisonville High School in Cass County, shes listed as a freshman. Phelps is scheduled to be back in court May 19, while Norton is scheduled to be back in court May 2. The tip the FBI received was titled Cassidy. Phelps and Timothy Norton, both of Dallas County, were charged in September 2021 with kidnapping the 33-year-old woman and facilitating a felony, inflicting injury and terrorizing. **DISCLAIMER - Some people may find further details in this story to be disturbing.**. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. Those photos, as well as photos of Rainwater strung up on a gantry crane being dismembered and eviscerated, were sent in an anonymous tip to the FBI, according to court documents. Other photos allegedly showed "Cassidy's body bound to a gantry crane, commonly used for deer processing, and her evisceration and dismemberment. James Phelps . Nortons attorney has said he intends to plead not guilty. Ive been incredibly unsettled since the whole Menagerie started, she said. On October 4, a fire that investigators have ruled an arson destroyed Phelps' home. He said hed held Rainwaters legs while Phelps strangled her and placed a bag over her head. 2 Missouri Men Charged After Allegedly Kidnapping 33-Year-Old Woman and Keeping Her in a Cage, Inside the Phone Call Between Lori Vallow Daybell and Husband as Police Searched for Kids' Remains, Man Allegedly Killed Wanted Suspect in His Mother's Murder Before He Could Be Found by Police, Husband Who Allegedly Searched 'How Long Before a Body Starts to Smell' Indicted on Accusation He Killed Wife, Family Says Black Man Was Found Decapitated in Mississippi, Believes He Was Targeted by 'Lynch Mob', Wisconsin Woman Charged in 2022 Dismemberment Case Attacks Attorney at Competency Hearing, Washington, D.C., Police Sergeant Charged with Murder in Fatal Shooting of Man Asleep in Car, Texas Mom Allegedly Stabs 4-Year-Old Son to Death in Front of Her Mother; Both Women Charged, Missing Woman Found Possibly Dismembered in Texas; Suspect Allegedly Searched 'How to Be a Serial Killer', Dismembered Remains of N.C. 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Sheriff Scott Rice addressed the misinformation and rumors about the case in another Facebook post on Oct. 7. How do I keep bugs off my patio this spring? James Phelps, 58, and Timothy Norton, 56, have been in custody since. The flesh from the freezer also yielded a DNA match for Rainwater. According to court documents, Cassidy Rainwater's remains have been found on a property belonging to two men accused of kidnapping her and keeping her in a cage. The Law Did Not Treat Them Kindly. Investigators ruled the blaze an arson and found two. I feel like theyre kind of taking the story and running with it and maybe making it hyped up to more than what it really is. He can fix it, Mtley Cre let out their Wild Side rocking NFL Draft stage in Kansas City, NFL executive thanks KC for hosting Draft, says attendance slightly exceeded projection, Photos: Travis Kelce, Machine Gun Kelly, a smashed Super Bowl trophy. Phelps is one of two suspects in the Cassidy Rainwater murder case. According to additional court documents released in September, KY3 learned that Timothy Norton was called to the house by James Phelps one day earlier for help in restraining Cassidy Rainwater. Authorities later learned that she was talking about James Phelps. James D. Phelps, 60, was charged with first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping and abandonment of a corpse in the case of 33-year-old Cassidy Rainwater. That home burned to the ground in early October 2021 and authorities ruled it arson. Cassidy Rainwater (Dallas County Sheriff's Office) Some of Rainwater's remains were found in an adjacent property and in a freezer with "7-24" written on them, authorities said. Sheriff's deputies were contacted in late August by a woman who said Rainwater hadn't been seen for a month and Phelps was the last person she was seen with. He told authorities she left in the middle of the night and never came back. Literally translated as "virtue", it is now more popularly used in a strong gender-specific context of relations within a family described in terms of honor, attention, respect/respectability, and modesty. A lawyer for Norton previously denied the kidnapping allegations and could not be reached on Thursday for comment on the murder charges. Norton is said to have told investigators that Phelps then bound her to the gantry crane and dismembered her. Sheriff Rice said Phelps were classmates in school and friends for several decades. Two men are arrested for 'keeping partially-nude 33-year-old missing woman locked in a cage at their Missouri property' James Phelps and Timothy Norton allegedly restrained Cassidy Rainwater and . On Wednesday, the Dallas County Sheriffs Department announced the murder charges. The Springfield bomb squad arrived at the scene and detonated an explosive device near the fire. Norton is scheduled to appear in Dallas County for a hearing May 2. Several hours later, the bomb squad detonated the suspicious device. Phelps and Norton were arrested in September 2021 after authorities say they obtained photos of Rainwater in a cage on Phelps property, as well as photos of Rainwater being dismembered and eviscerated. After entering, they say, Norton said he held Cassidys legs down while Phelps strangled her and placed a bag over her head.. The other photos depicted Cassidys body bound to a gantry crane, commonly used for deer processing, and her evisceration and dismemberment.. Warner Bros. Entertainment | (KY3) - One of two men accused of kidnapping and killing Cassidy Rainwater in Dallas County entered an Alford plea for first-degree murder. Phelps lawyer has not commented on the previous charges and did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the murder charges. On Sept. 16, an FBI agent in Kansas City contacted detectives in the Sheriff's Department after receiving an anonymous tip about photos that allegedly showed Rainwater being held in a cage, reported CBS affiliate KFVS in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Rainwater, 33, was reported missing on Aug. 26, 2021, after having last been seen in mid-July. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Springfield Bomb Squad removed the device without any injuries to those handling the device. The little I did watch I didnt hear anything bad, and then all of a sudden Im hearing about a guy whos got women locked up, and possible torture. Also on Friday, according to online court records, Judge Jill Porter sentenced Phelps to life in prison with no chance for parole.