The 2023 murder of an Idaho lady was solved with the assistance of an odd source: the victim’s dog.

Mandy Rose Reynolds, 26, was discovered smoldering and “dead beyond recognition” in April 2023 by officials responding to a brush fire in Robinson, Texas, according to the McLennan County District Attorney’s office.

Her cousin, 29-year-old Derek Daigneault, was sentenced to life in prison for her murder on Thursday, Nov. 7, according to a DA’s office release last week.

The investigation began on April 5, 2023, when police discovered Reynolds’ body, initially unrecognizable, burning in a field next to a white dog that “barked frantically at officers and refused to leave the area of the body, but also refused to allow police to capture it,” according to the DA’s press release.

The next day, after the body had been removed, a citizen notified animal control, who tracked down the dog’s owner using a chip on him. Police were then informed that the corpse most likely belonged to Reynolds, and they learnt that the dog’s name was Titan.

This information led investigators to Reynolds’ home, where they discovered all of her items missing and the house utterly vacant, according to the DA’s office. The victim’s car was also missing, forcing police to check a license plate database. They determined that the automobile was in Wichita, Kansas.

Wichita police noticed Reynolds’ automobile on April 8, 2023, and encountered Daigneault, according to the DA’s office. He fled the scene on foot and hid on a grocery store shelf, where he was apprehended, police said.

Investigators uncovered a revolver inside the automobile that matched the shell casing located inside the container where Reynolds’ body was allegedly burned.

Meanwhile, authorities in San Marcos, Texas, received Walmart surveillance footage that showed the killer purchasing a plastic storage container “identical” to the one Reynolds was eventually found in, a shovel, and a gas can the day before Reynolds’ body was discovered. According to authorities, the tape also shows Titan poking his head out Reynolds’ car window.

Reynolds’ mother stated in a GoFundMe page set up following her death that the deceased had recently moved from Idaho to San Marcos and was planning to start college. According to her mother, Daigneault contacted Reynolds under “false pretenses.”

This “resulted in Mandy traveling to Kansas to bring Derek to Texas for a brief visit,” her mother, Karleen Hardy, stated in the appeal.

Further facts about the murder, such as the motive, were not provided.

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