On Tuesday, officials determined that the remains found in Oyster Creek, Texas were Laura Ackerson’s using dental records. Officials say they called the search for the rest of the remains off because they say there is nothing more they can do. Ackerson was reported missing roughly two weeks ago after she never picked up her children from their father, Grant Hayes.
Hayes and his wife, Amanda, were both charged with Ackerson’s murder. They made an appearance in Wake County court on Tuesday. A judge appointed the Hayes’ with a public defender. They will both remain in jail under no bond. A probable cause hearing was set for August 16.
RALEIGH, N.C.- There’s new information tonight in the homicide investigation of Laura Ackerson, the Kinston mother who went missing nearly two weeks ago. Raleigh Police arrested Ackerson’s ex-boyfriend and father of her two children Grant Hayes and his wife Amanda in Kinston Monday and charged them with murder. Tuesday, they both faced a judge in wake county court and are being held without bond.
One of the big questions is what really happened in the days leading up to Ackerson’s disappearance. That's right Amanda the timeline of when Laura ackerson was last seen is still full of holes. We're going to go back to the days just before Ackerson disappeared. In e-mails to her good friend in New York City, Ackerson was sharing sweet memories of her children, and plans for the future.
Before Laura Ackerson met and settled down with Grant Hayes, she dated James Harrison. The two remained friends after their break-up and Harrison says he met Hayes on several occasions. He says he seemed like a great guy.
Harrison and Ackerson exchanged e-mails on July 11th and 12th, just before she went missing. She talked about watching the world cup with her boys- "watching it over ice cream cones at the ice cream shop." In her last e-mail to Harrison on July 12th, she responded to an invitation to visit him in New York City saying it would be a "blast". These are the surveillance photos of Laura Ackerson Raleigh Police say were taken the morning of July 13th- police won't say where they were taken but there are reports this is the last day anyone saw Ackerson- she was dropping her kids off at Hayes's home in Raleigh. Authorities in Kinston and Raleigh will not confirm that, but the arrest reports for Grant and Amanda Hayes say they killed Ackerson on July 13th. While Ackerson's friend Chevon Mathes was reporting her missing to Kinston Police on Monday July 18th, detectives say Grant and Amanda Hayes were in Richmond, Texas visiting Amanda's sister who lives by Oyster Creek.
"It's believed that the actual homicide actually occurred in North Carolina where the suspects evidently purchases some ice chests, dismembered the body, placed it in the ice chests, acquired a U-Haul trailer, put the ice chests in the trailer and transported her through several states to Fort Bend County where they tossed her remains into Oyster Creek,” said Chief Deputy Craig Brady, Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office.
Tuesday, Raleigh Police confirmed the remains found in oyster creek have been positively identified as Laura Ackerson's. Dive teams from the sheriff's office and local fire departments there in Texas continued searching the creek Tuesday for the rest of Ackerson's remains. On Monday, they told us they recovered about 60% of her body from the water.
Grant and Amanda Hayes were brought in separately for their hearing in Wake County Tuesday afternoon. A judge appointed public defenders for the couple and set their probable cause hearing for August 16th.
