Brandy Morrison was 23 when she disappeared from St. Louis in late January 2017. Her family reported her missing on January 28, 2017, after phone calls pointed toward a house on Laura Avenue and a fire at a home on that block raised further concern. Investigators followed the neighborhood’s trash-collection route to a landfill in Marissa, Illinois.

On January 31, 2017, cadaver dogs and homicide detectives located a woman’s body at the landfill; the woman was later identified as Brandy Morrison. An autopsy found she died of a gunshot wound to the head. Authorities believe Morrison was killed sometime between Friday, January 27, and Monday, January 30, inside the Laura Avenue residence, and that her body was placed in a trash bin that was emptied and taken to the landfill.

Two men, Paulren Stepter, 51, and Courtney Williams, 40, were arrested on charges including tampering with physical evidence and abandonment of a corpse; Williams was also charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action. Anyone with information about Brandy, the Laura Avenue residence, or those dates is asked to come forward.