Bloody motel room leads police to woman’s body in trash bag near river, cops say
Police in Michigan have identified a woman whose body was found in a trash bag along a river bank.
On March 3, Genesee Township police were called to the Flint Motel, according to a news conference streamed by WEYI.
When officers arrived, they found a comforter soaked in blood lying outside the door of room 18. Inside, police found blood on the mattress, walls, sheets and in the bathroom, officials said.
After speaking with employees at the motel, investigators determined the room was rented out by Christina Elizabeth Barber.
Just a day earlier, police were called by some of Barber’s coworkers asking them to do a welfare check on her, according to officials. The coworkers told officers that Barber hadn’t been to work all week and she wasn’t answering her phone.
They also told police she was having difficulties with her boyfriend, 34-year-old Christopher Astin Motry, and that he “threatened to kill her,” officials said.
Motry and Barber previously worked together at Burger King, until Motry lost his job because he had been violent at work, officials said.
Although Motry was married, he was having an affair with Barber, who wanted to end the relationship, officials said.
On March 4, police were called to Flint River after a man called 911 saying he was looking for a place to fish when he found a trash bag along the river banks with toes sticking out, according to officials.
Investigators pulled surveillance footage from the motel which they say showed Barber and Motry arrive to room 18 in a pickup truck around 1:20 a.m. Feb. 28. Then around 8 p.m., Feb. 29, Motry is seen coming out of the room with what looks like a body inside of a plastic bag, officials said.
Motry placed the bag in the truck and left. Officials said Barber was never seen on video again.
Officials say they believe Motry killed Barber in the motel room, then dumped her body near the Flint River.
Barber was a mother of seven, according to officials.
“I miss you dearly and I will for the rest of my life,” one of her daughters wrote on Facebook. “I love you momma with all my heart.”
Motry is being charged with first degree murder, tampering with evidence, concealing death of an individual and domestic violence.
An Attorney for Motry was not listed in court records.
If you are experiencing domestic violence and need someone to talk to, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline for support at 1-800-799-7233 or text “START” to 88788.
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