An Ohio man has been accused of hiding his girlfriend's dead body in a freezer while another woman assumed the identity of the deceased. Arturo Novoa and Katrina Layton were arrested over the weekend on corpse-abuse charges after a body was discovered inside the freezer, CBS Newsreported. The victim is believed to be Shannon Graves, who was added to the Ohio Attorney General's Missing Persons website last month.
Novoa, 31, reportedly asked a friend if he could keep the padlocked freezer at his house in Campbell after claiming his power was off. Layton, 34, allegedly used credit cards belonging to the dead woman and even took care of her dog. An official cause of death and identification of the body is forthcoming.
Graves was 28 when she was reported missing, the Associated Pressreported Tuesday. A family member told reporters that Graves had not been seen for "months," with her friends last seeing her in person at some point in February. Extended periods of absence from family activities, Graves' sister said, were not unusual. However, the apparent abandonment of her dog, phone, and car—all three of which are alleged to have been used by Layton—was a red flag.
Novoa and Graves were previously in a relationship, having lived together in an apartment in the Youngstown area. "The apartment on Mahoning Avenue, the lease is in the name of... what we believe to be the victim, Shannon Graves," Youngstown City Prosecutor Dana Lantz told WKBNlast week.
At the time of their arrest, Novoa and Layton's bonds were set at $1 million each. In addition to the corpse-abuse charges, Layton also faces a charge of obstruction of justice.
