Police find burnt bones in dumpster during search for missing Indiana woman
KOKOMO, Ind. (WXIN) — A 44-year-old woman from Kokomo, Indiana, went missing in mid-January. Before she vanished, she posted a gut-wrenching video on social media.
“If I end up dead and my dismembered body is found all over Kokomo, it was John Christy,” the woman, named Brandi Bradley, said in the video.
On Tuesday, 16 days after a missing persons report was officially filed for Bradley’s disappearance, Jonathan Christy was arrested on one count of murder.
Police said his arrest stemmed from their investigation into the missing woman, but have not confirmed if the woman’s body has been found.
Court documents obtained by Nexstar’s WXIN reveal, however, that the search for Bradley led investigators to trace Christy’s steps. One of the places that search led police was to a dumpster in Kempton, where Christy allegedly threw out some debris from a job site. In that dumpster, amid bits of ash and melted debris, investigators found burnt bones — bones a doctor believes to be human.
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While a missing person’s report wasn’t filed for Bradley until Feb. 11, police said the 44-year-old woman was last seen and heard from on Jan. 19. From the beginning, Christy was a suspect in Bradley’s disappearance, according to authorities. Bradley lived in Christy’s home, who later told police he had a “bad habit of taking in strays.”
Several friends of Bradley told police that Christy had been abusive to Bradley in the past. Bradley made posts on social media about her issues with Christy, including the post where she predicted her death at his hands.
Investigators said police were called out to the home where Christy and Bradley lived five times between Dec. 30, 2023, and Jan. 19, 2024. There had allegedly been a lot of arguing and fighting in the home, where another woman also lived with Bradley and Christy.
Witnesses told police that after Bradley’s disappearance, Christy spray-painted his truck and was heard asking around about “burn piles” where he could discard some items.
Christy later told police he worked construction and used these locations to get rid of various debris left over from jobs. At one of these locations, on Feb. 14, police said they found a small red stain believed to be blood.
On the same day at another location, one near Kempton on Division Road, police stated there was a dumpster with “definite signs” that a fire had been lit inside the dumpster. Digging through the dumpster, police found burnt remains of a necklace, a tarp, and a belt.
Then, police found what they believed to be human bones.
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On Feb. 15, police had the bones examined by a doctor. The doctor’s team concluded that the bones found were arm, rib and finger bones. The doctor stated “with high confidence” that the bones were likely human, but tests would need to be done in a lab to confirm.
Police pressed further into the investigation into Christy, listening to a recorded prison call with him and another individual. In the call, Christy pressed the person about a conversation they had with police.
“Did you tell them I did it?” he asked.
Court documents state that police were contacted by an individual on Feb. 26 who claimed to have vital information into the case, but they were worried about whether they’d be charged in relation to Bradley’s death.
The individual eventually spoke to police and claimed that Christy called them one day in January and offered them $500 to help with a job. The individual went to a home where Christy told them, “It’s done.”
Inside the home, the individual claimed to see Bradley’s body lying dead on the ground with a bag over her head and a belt around her neck.
Christy allegedly told the individual that Bradley had trashed his house, which led him to “lose control” and attack her with a wrench.
The individual told police that Christy then made them help load Bradley into his truck, which they drove to another house. The individual said there was a large dumpster outside the home.
Christy allegedly told the individual, “I have to burn it,” in reference to Bradley’s body. The individual then witnessed Christy light the body on fire, according to his account.
The day after police spoke with this alleged witness, police arrested Christy on a preliminary charge of murder. On Wednesday, the Howard County Prosecutor officially filed a murder charge against Christy.
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