CNHI News Service

HAHIRA, Ga. - The body of a missing woman has been discovered beneath a newly-built cement patio outside the family's home in this south Georgia hamlet.

Police charged the husband with strangling Lynn Renee Pendleton, 51, to death, then burying her body in a 2 1/2-foot deep hole and covering it with the patio.

Authorities arrested William D. Pendleton, 51, last weekend as he attempted to flee the area in his Chevy Camaro that had been newly spray-painted black to hide its original red color and flames on the hood and sides.

An alert motorist followed the 1996 Camaro, subject of a police alert, speeding away on U.S. 84, and notified authorities that it had the same license tag of the car they were looking for.

Pendleton's wife was reported missing by an adult daughter March 16 after she had not heard from the mother for several days.

When Pendleton failed to show up for a meeting with the daughter at the Lowndes County Sheriff's office, an alert was sent out to bring him in for questioning. Officers also went to the couple's home in a trailer park.

Investigators quickly noticed the new cement patio in the back yard, digging it up and finding the wife's body.

Authorities said they did not know how long the body had been buried there, but an autopsy determined the cause of death was strangulation.
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Details for this story were provided by the Valdosta, Ga., Daily Times.