Rainwater Cassidy, Missing Missouri Woman, Killed in Windyville by James Phelps, Timothy Norton, Cops Say

Warning: This story contains graphic depictions of violence.

The mystery surrounding the fate of a Missouri woman who disappeared over the summer is finally solved — but details about what really happened to Cassidy Rainwater more horrible than anyone can imagine.

The 33-year-old girl’s body was found in a freezer at the home of one of the men who allegedly kidnapped her in Windyville, an unincorporated community of the Ozarks about 160 kilometers from Kansas City, police said. .

That man, James Phelps, was originally arrested and charged with kidnapping Rainwater in September, along with another man named Timothy Norton, a truck driver who was living off Phelps’ property. Police have now raised charges against both men to first-degree murder.

The new charges come after remains were recovered at Phelps’ property just days after his arrest was identified as that of Rainwater.

Police have also revealed new information about hundreds of other pieces of evidence recovered in the case, providing disturbing new details about Rainwater’s final moments that left many fearing the bad. worst from the start. The case took a very dark turn in September, when minor details about Rainwater’s captivity and half-naked in a cage on Phelps’ estate.

NS Dallas County Sheriff’s Office It has now been revealed that the cage was the place where Rainwater suffered the least: She was strangled by two men before being gutted and dismembered, officials said.

A search warrant executed at Phelps’ home discovered photos of “a fully clothed woman in a cage who we recognize as Cassidy,” police said in a statement Wednesday. . “Other photos depict Cassidy’s body tied to a crane rig, commonly used for deer processing, and her movement and faeces.”

Police have yet to give a motive for the gruesome crime, but they say Phelps and Norton planned it in advance.

“Norton has confessed to the murder of Cassidy Rainwater. Norton told FBI agents that Phelps let him in while Cassidy was sleeping on the living room floor, so he could easily attack Cassidy,” the sheriff’s office said. After entering, they say, Norton said he “held Cassidy’s feet down while Phelps strangled her and placed a bag over her head.”

Norton is said to have told investigators that Phelps then “tied her to the gantry crane” and disassembled her.

Police said “items from the freezer that appeared to be human flesh” were correctly identified as Rainwater’s remains, and her skeleton was also discovered.

The packages in the freezer containing her remains were labeled “7-24”. Rainwater was last seen at some point in late July; A family member who officially announced her missing on August 25 said she was last seen about six weeks earlier.

Phelps and Norton were considered suspects from the start, and the case took a strange turn in October, when the Ozarks home at the center of the investigation burned down and authorities found a tripod cord. and a “vertebral device” on the property.

Phelps had admitted to police that Rainwater had lived off his estate, but he repeatedly tried to deflect investigators’ scrutiny, telling them she had boarded and left suddenly abruptly at the end of July after voicing his plans to leave for Colorado.

In fact, police said, during the time Phelps claimed he graciously let Rainwater stay with him “until she got her footing,” he was actually plotting to kill her. Text messages between Phelps and Norton show the two men “planning to kill Cassidy Rainwater,” police said.

Authorities say they have no reason to believe “there are any other victims associated with Phelps and Norton at this time.”

Norton’s attorney said he intends to plead not guilty. It remains unclear whether Phelps has an attorney.