Search for Missing Woman in New Orleans Turns Up a Headless Torso and Flesh Covered Saw!

The search for a missing New Orleans woman has turned into a homicide investigation after body parts were found at the home she once shared with her boyfriend.

On Tuesday law enforcement officers went to the home of 34-year-old Benjamin Beale armed with a search warrant to look for clues in the disappearance of 36-year-old Julia Dardar.

Police say that Dardar was reported missing Dec. 23 by her estranged husband, who told police she had addiction and mental health issues and had moved in with Beale.

Beale told an officer who visited the house that he had not seen the woman since Dec. 16, and that he believed she was suicidal because she had moved out without taking her belongings or car. It was then that Beale suggested that he should report the woman as missing, the affidavit said.

Beale agreed to meet with police again Jan. 5 and told them this time that he had not spoken to Julia Dardar since Dec. 12. He said they had been in the process of ending their co-habitation “due to her drug habits,” and suggested that she might have committed suicide or overdosed in a part of the abandoned U.S. Naval Support station known to street drug users as “The End of the World.”

Beale told detectives he had not reported the woman as missing sooner because he had lost his cell phone and had no way to contact police.

After their initial contact with Beale officers obtained a search warrant for Beale's property. They returned six days later to do a thorough search.

Detectives found an old bus on Beale's property that had power cords leading to it. That's where they made a gruesome discovery in a deep freeser.

“Upon opening the lid of the freezer, investigators observed the headless torso of what appeared to be an adult human female,” the affidavit said. “A deep linear cut was visible along the left shoulder/upper arm area, which appeared to have been inflicted post-mortem.”

The court document said detectives also found nearby a Coleman ice chest containing a reciprocating saw, “which appeared to have bits of flesh and fluid on the blade surface. A plastic face shield, goggles and additional garbage bags were also located in close proximity to the freezer.”

Beale was taken to police headquarters, where he refused to make any further statement.

At this point it's pretty obvious what has happened to Dardar but Beale has not officially been charged with her death, pending a positive identification.

He was booked with obstruction of justice in a death investigation, illegal carrying of a weapon in the presence of controlled dangerous substances, distribution of methamphetamine, possession with the intent to distribute marijuana, and two counts of creating/operating a clandestine drug lab, according to court records.