On the morning of April 9, 2020, human remains were found beneath a bridge in a wooded area near the 4300 block of Northwest Tullison Road in Riverside, Missouri. The body, wrapped in plastic sheeting that had once packaged a box spring and resting on plywood, was identified as 54-year-old Hispanic male Conrado Conrad Mendez Jr., who had been missing for several weeks. The discovery prompted a homicide investigation with assistance from the Kansas City Metro Squad.

Investigators focused on William M. Bell, a 25-year-old man who had been Mendez’s roommate in Kansas City. Bell told police a confrontation occurred on March 28, 2020, saying Mendez was intoxicated and acting aggressively and that he shot him, claiming he believed Mendez might have had a knife. Police also say Bell communicated details of the killing in social media messages to an acquaintance. A trash bag at the dump site reportedly contained rubber gloves with DNA linked to both Bell and Mendez, and detectives traced the plastic wrapping back to a furniture-store purchase by one of the roommates. Bell was arrested and charged with second-degree murder, armed criminal action, and abandonment of a corpse.

Does anyone have information about Mendez’s last known movements or the household where he and Bell lived?