A gruesome discovery in the Minnesota woods has led to a local man being charged with murder.
Bradley A. Weyaus, 21, was tracked down and taken into custody after a storage container he had been seen with was found abandoned in a ditch near Mille Lacs Lake.
The tote was discovered by a public works crew clearing the area, bound with bungee cords and industrial tape. When it proved too heavy to move, the container was opened.
Inside, they found various human remains, including a severed foot.
The remains were eventually proven to belong to Rodney Pendegayosh Jr., 25, who had been reported missing.
As authorities were responding to the scene, they encountered a vehicle that refused to move aside for the emergency vehicles and, instead, sped up.
The vehicle was driven by Weyaus, who was eventually found hiding in a building on a rural property and arrested, according to authorities.
Inside the Saturn that Weyaus had been driving were duffel bags containing a hacksaw, a hammer and industrial tape, according to the criminal complaint. A spent shotgun shell was also found in the car.
Authorities say pellets were found in Pendegayosh’s throat that could have come from buckshot shotgun shells.
Weyaus has been charged with second-degree murder (with intent, not premeditated), one count of fleeing a police officer, and one count of interference with a dead body or scene of a death (conceal body).
If convicted, he could be sentenced to 40 years in prison.
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