WAGONER, Oklahoma — A woman has been charged with murdering her roommate who disappeared in Oklahoma last spring, after a freezer containing her remains was found hidden in the woods in Arkansas last week, authorities said
Investigators had been searching for Talina Galloway since April 17, when her roommate, Kore Bommeli, reported her missing from their Oklahoma home near Fort Gibson Lake, the Wagoner County Sheriff’s office said.
Police said they initially treated Bommeli as a witness but that she immediately began behaving suspiciously and as her story began to change, she became the top suspect in the case. She was eventually arrested for obstructing the investigation and destroying evidence.
The break in the investigation came last week when a woman walking in the woods near the Ouachita National Forest outside Mena, Arkansas, spotted a freezer with its lid taped shut and a foul smell coming from it.
Investigators discovered dismembered human remains inside, Wagoner County Sheriff Chris Elliott said.
The same woman had in June spotted a suspicious pickup truck pulling an enclosed trailer in the same area that had similarly had a bad odor with a foul-smelling liquid pooled on the floor of the trailer, police said. She reported it to police at the time and a deputy came to investigate but never connected with the witness, Elliot said.
But the person had taken down the vehicle’s license plate number and when police checked it, that discovered that it belonged to Galloway.
After several days, the Arkansas State Medical Examiner’s office identified the remains as being Galloway and ruled the cause of death as homicide.
On Thursday, Wagoner County District Attorney Jack Thorp obtained an arrest warrant for Bommeli, who was out on bond and living in Wisconsin.
She was arrested in Dane County, Wisconsin on Thursday where she will remain until she is brought to Oklahoma to face charges of first degree murder and desecration of a human corpse.
Sheriff Elliott stated that they are glad they are bringing closure to this case, but that it is still active and urged anyone with information to call the Wagoner County Sheriff’s Office.
“Our hearts go out to the family of Talina Galloway,” Sheriff Elliott said. “They are certainly in our prayers.”
