A Missouri man faces murder charges after authorities say he strangled a woman to death, sealed her body inside a city trash bin, and dumped it into a creek, then claimed he had no memory of the day in question.
Andrew Acton, 53, of Boone County, is charged with second-degree murder, abandonment of a corpse, and tampering with evidence. A probable cause affidavit paints a damning picture of his behavior during questioning. “The defendant … stated he could not remember anything about that day other than he drove around all day,” the document states.
“Despite being given multiple opportunities he never denied dumping the trash bin containing the body,” the affidavit alleges. The grim discovery began on May 17, when a boater on Perche Creek spotted a City of Columbia trash bin floating in the water and flagged down authorities.
The boater reported smelling a foul odor, prompting deputies to respond. “The bin was moved to the bank of Perche Creek and opened locating a body of an adult human inside the bin,” the affidavit recounts, as per KRCG.
Investigators canvassed the surrounding area and pulled surveillance footage showing a red Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck entering the Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area near where the bin was recovered, with a City of Columbia trash bin lying flat in the truck bed.
Authorities noted that the bin found in the creek and the one visible in the photograph shared distinctive features, indicating they were the same container. The following day, police located Acton behind the wheel of that same truck. He was interviewed but maintained he could not account for his whereabouts.
Investigators say Acton, an admitted drug user, killed the woman sometime between October 1, 2025, and May 10, 2026, before placing her inside the trash bin and discarding it in the creek in an apparent effort to conceal the death. Prosecutors say he disposed of the body near Eagle Bluffs on May 11, 2026.
A criminal complaint lays out the allegations in stark terms. “The defendant knowingly or with the purpose of causing serious physical injury … caused the death of [the woman] by strangling/smothering her,” it states.
“The defendant suppressed or concealed a human body with the purpose to impair its availability in a death investigation, an official investigation, and thereby impaired and obstructed the prosecution.” No motive has been released. Acton is currently held in the Boone County Jail without bond and is scheduled to appear in court on June 9.