Following an investigation into his wife’s disappearance, a Boone County man is facing murder charges after a grisly discovery. Andrew Wilhoite has been taken into custody on charges of murder, booked in the Boone County Jail.
On Friday, March 25, the Boone County Sheriff’s Department initiated a welfare check at the home of Elizabeth Wilhoite, Andrew’s wife, following a report from a coworker saying that she failed to show up to work. Tragically, the missing person search rapidly became a homicide investigation, which led to the Boone County Sheriff’s office calling an audible with regards to the investigating agency. “When our investigators realized this could be a possible homicide investigation, we wanted to do discuss the best way to move forward with the investigation since the mother of Andrew Wilhoite is a County Councilwoman, another county elected official,” said Sheriff Mike Nielsen. “To avoid any conflict of interest, it was decided to contact the Indiana State Police and ask them to lead the investigation and we would assist them.”
The investigation lead to Indiana State Police concluding that Elizabeth Wilhoite was the victim of a homicide at the hands of her husband, Andrew Wilhoite. Allegedly, Wilhoite struck his wife in the head with a “blunt object,” then put her body in his vehicle and drove to a nearby creek where he disposed of her in the creek. Elizabeth’s body was found partially submerged in the water and recovered from the creek.
“This is another prime example of working with our law enforcement partners to solve a horrendous crime,” said Sheriff Nelson. “I cannot be prouder of our Investigations team, Crime Scene Investigations team, the entire Sheriff’s Office staff, the Boone County Prosecutor’s Office and the Indiana State Police Investigators. Please keep all families and first responders in your thoughts and prayers.”