^^sbm
Based on the search by investigators, the actual location where P's remains were recovered, and no immediate manner of death, I'm afraid it's equally possible that P's death was accidental. She very well could have died at the softball field and buried in the nearby yard.
If this is in fact a case where P fell to temptation, succumbed to drug dosage, and then buried by her companions in a panic, I see at least two potential charges applicable in the state of Alabama: tampering with physical evidence by not reporting P's death while concealing her body from investigators, and abuse of a corpse by stuffing her body in a backyard hole.
As these charges only represent a Class A misdemeanor and Class C felony -- it does not surprise me that there's been no warning by authorities for the public to take precautions for their safety, no manhunt for suspects, or any immediate arrests. I'm afraid that investigators are being forced to wait for toxicology reports to corroborate any witness's accounts or upgrade the individuals to suspects and charge them. If authorities already have persons of interest here, they must be cooperating and/or not considered flight risks. Whether by homicide or accident, P's demise is devastating just the same. MOO
2013 Code of Alabama
Title 13A - CRIMINAL CODE.
Chapter 10 - OFFENSES AGAINST PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION.
Section 13A-10-129 - Tampering with physical evidence.
Universal Citation:
AL Code § 13A-10-129 (2013)
Section 13A-10-129Tampering with physical evidence.
(a) A person commits the crime of tampering with physical evidence if, believing that an official proceeding is pending or may be instituted, and acting without legal right or authority, he:
(1) Destroys, mutilates, conceals, removes or alters physical evidence with intent to impair its use, verity or availability in the pending or prospective official proceeding; or
(2) Knowingly makes, presents or offers any false physical evidence with intent that it be introduced in the pending or prospective official proceeding.
(b) "Physical evidence," as used in this section, includes any article, object, document, record or other thing of physical substance.
(c) Tampering with physical evidence is a
Class A misdemeanor.
2013 Code of Alabama
Title 13A - CRIMINAL CODE.
Chapter 11 - OFFENSES AGAINST PUBLIC ORDER AND SAFETY.
Section 13A-11-13 - Abuse of corpse.
Universal Citation:
AL Code § 13A-11-13 (2013)
Section 13A-11-13Abuse of corpse.
(a) A person commits the crime of abuse of a corpse if, except as otherwise authorized by law, he knowingly treats a human corpse in a way that would outrage ordinary family sensibilities. Abuse of a corpse may include knowingly and willfully signing a certificate as having embalmed, cremated, or prepared a human body for disposition when, in fact, the services were not performed as indicated.
(b) Abuse of a corpse is a
Class C felony.