Bart and Krista Halderson Wisconsin couple missing. Couple’s 23 yr old son, Chandler arrested as bodies believed to belong to missing parents found.
Human remains have been found in the search for a missing Wisconsin couple, and their 23-year-old son has been arrested in connection with what police called a ‘suspicious’ disappearance.
The Dane County Sheriff’s Office announced the discovery of the remains on Friday but said the medical examiner’s office had yet to confirm whether they belonged to Bart and Krista Halderson, a couple from Windsor who their 23 year old son reported missing on Wednesday morning. An autopsy is scheduled for the coming weekend.
At a Friday afternoon press conference, Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett said the remains were found in a rural area on Thursday—the same day the couple’ son, Chandler Halderson, 23, was booked into jail for allegedly providing false information about a missing person.
The missing couple’s son was the first person to report his parents missing, telling cops on Wednesday that his 50-year-old father and 53-year-old mother had not been seen since July 1, just on a week. The son said they had planned to spend the 4th of July weekend at a cabin in Langlade County with an unknown couple.
‘They were picked up by their friends, who I never got the name of. I assumed it was someone I was aware of, like close neighbors of theirs up the street, or their best friends down on the east side,’ Halderson told police, according to charging documents cited by Channel3000. ‘That’s what I assumed. I didn’t look any more into it. They got picked up and left with another couple.’
‘It’s better to not listen to the negative theories,’
A search for the couple found no signs of Bart and Krista Halderson at the alleged cabin destination, cops said. Authorities said they were left with many ‘unanswered questions’ about the parents’ whereabouts. Their son, however, told local media he believed that ‘they’re maybe at a casino, their phones off, no reception. Maybe they’re on a boat, having some fun with their friends.’
‘We’ll find them,’ the 23 year old said of his missing parents speaking to press. ‘It’s better to not listen to the negative theories,’ the 23 year old said according to WKOW.
The son said he received a text from his mother after his parents had apparently left on the trip.
‘She got back to me on Sunday, said they made it safely,’ Halderson said.
Halderson said he contacted authorities after his parents did not return as planned Tuesday, and after a relative went to Hollister and did not find them. Halderson said authorities in Langlade County also checked the property, but found the cabin locked. “The sheriff said it looked like there wasn’t anyone home,” Halderson said.
But something wasn’t quite right with the son’s story.
Come late Thursday, cops booked Chandler Handerson with providing false information about a missing person. Cops declined to say what aspects of the son’s story they believed the son had given misleading information over.
Son’s misleading story over missing parents
Asked whether they regarded the son as possibly culpable in the missing couple’s disappearance, police alluded to ‘sinister’ concerns over the case.
‘We definitely have some suspicions as to what actually happened,’ a spokesperson for the Dane County Sheriff’s Office said late Thursday according to the DailyBeast.
Asked on Friday to elaborate on ‘misleading’ aspects of the son’s story, Sheriff Barrett said only that ‘the arrest was based on him providing false information in regards to a missing person.’
Details were also scarce on where exactly the human remains were found on Thursday and what body parts were unearthed. Barrett said interviews with ‘friends, family, and neighbors’ of the missing couple led police to the area where the remains were found, but he declined to provide any further details, citing the ongoing investigation.
The couple’s extended family issued a statement thanking authorities for their work on the case.
Police to date have yet to provide a possible motive for why the couple’s 23 year old son may have sought his parents’ demise.
The 23 year old remained in custody at Dane County jail going into the weekend.
Authorities are continuing to ask for the public’s help with any information on the investigation. Callers can leave a tip with the sheriff’s office at 608-284-6900.
