CATAHOULA PARISH, La. (TCD) — A 29-year-old man is in custody on suspicion of sexually assaulting and killing a missing woman he met online.
According to a news release from the Catahoula Parish Sheriff’s Department, family members last saw 19-year-old Sheryl Turner on Dec. 31, 2023. She reportedly texted her twin sister, stating she had met someone in Ouachita and planned to relocate there. Once she made it to West Monroe, Louisiana, the sheriff’s office said that Turner alerted a family friend.
On Jan. 24, a hunter reportedly discovered a dismembered torso in the Ouachita River. Investigators responded to the scene, collected DNA, and positively identified the victim as Turner.
According to KLFY-TV, an autopsy determined she had been sexually assaulted, and somebody had broken her neck. Her death was ruled a homicide.
Further investigation revealed Turner was “engaged in a romantic relationship over text message” with a man, later identified as Anthony Holland, West Monroe Police said.
Detectives reportedly found out Holland last spoke with Turner on Jan. 1. He picked her up from her mother’s home in a black 2023 Toyota Corolla and brought Turner back to Ouachita Parish with him, KLFY reports.
According to the news source, investigators obtained traffic camera footage showing Holland’s car near the location where Turner’s remains were found several days before the discovery.
Officials executed search warrants at Holland’s home on April 23 and took him into custody without incident.
Holland reportedly admitted to police that he killed Turner inside his residence during a sexual act. According to KATC-TV, after killing the victim, Holland allegedly dismembered her body and placed the body parts in bags. He reportedly dumped the remains, the knives he used to dismember her, and her personal belongings into the Ouachita River.
Holland remains held in the Ouachita Correctional Center without bond on one count of second-degree murder.
According to her obituary, Turner was “a shining light to all who knew her, with a kind and loving personality that radiated through her beautiful smile and touched the hearts of those around her.”
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