HCSO: Man who reported wife missing from Katy area charged with murder

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - The Harris County Sheriff's Office says a man who reported his wife missing from their Katy area home has been charged with murder and tampering with a corpse.

Investigators says Jay Patrick Hammersley reported on March 19 that his wife, 29-year-old Mara Vestal, had left and not returned home. The sheriff's office say he told investigators his wife had left two to three weeks earlier with her belongings.

Investigators say while interviewing Hammersely during the investigation, he admitted to killing his wife and disposing of her body.

He is being held on a $105,000 bond.