A man has been arrested after he allegedly kidnapped and killed a woman in Kentucky before he stored her body in his trailer and dumped it on the side of a road.
Ryan Crawley has been accused of killing April Arnett in 2019. His trial is scheduled to begin on May 17, 2027, and will last until May 28, 2027, according to WLEX. The trial is expected to take place nearly eight years after Arnett was found dead.
Troopers with the Kentucky State Police were contacted on August 17, 2019, around 9 p.m. after a body was found off Old Lexington Road in northern Madison County, Kentucky.
The body was identified as Arnett, 39, after an autopsy was conducted and it remains unclear how she died.
An investigation was launched into her death, and law enforcement concluded that Crawley, 42, killed Arnett four days before her body was found on August 13, 2019, in Scott County, Kentucky.
Crawley allegedly wrapped up Arnett’s body before he stored “it under his trailer,” according to court documents obtained by the outlet. Meanwhile, four other people have been accused of helping kidnap Arnett. One of the other people accused was the defendant’s cousin Ronald Crawley.
Authorities said that after Arnett’s body was wrapped in a tarp with cinder blocks attached, the cousins allegedly drove her body to Madison County and tried to dump her remains over the Old Clay’s Ferry Bridge.
As they tried to throw her remains over the bridge, the body allegedly got stuck on a wire and a passing motorist saw them. The Crawleys then reportedly decided to dump her body off the side of Old Lexington Road.
Both Ryan and Ronald reportedly pleaded guilty to evidence tampering and abuse of a corpse in Madison County in 2024.
Ryan was later indicted on the murder charge and he pleaded not guilty during a hearing on March 2, according to WLEX.
It is not currently clear if the Crawleys knew Arnett before her death or if Ryan had a motive for the killing.
Arnett was a beloved mother of three, according to her obituary.
“April will forever be known for her big heart and infectious smile. Whenever April was around, you knew that at least one person in the room loved and cared for you more than anything,” the obituary read. “That smile and special love will never fade from our memory, but will be missed by so many.”
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