Anthropologist explains his review of Ji’s remains found at Rock Bridge State Park
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
An anthropologist spoke this afternoon to jurors, explaining his review of Mengqi Ji's remains found at Rock Bridge State Park.
Doctor Mark Beary says Ji's remains were missing several bones, including her right arm and the hyoid bone in her neck when they came to the Boone County Medical Examiner's Office.
Dr. Beary said several of Ji's ribs were fractured. Both sides of the case questioned Beary on his conclusion on what may have caused the fractures. Beary said the fractures could have come from blunt-force trauma or from "animal scavenging" in the area.
This afternoon has featured lots of testimony about March 25, the day a hiker at Rock Bridge State Park found Ji's remains. Both sides of the case agree Elledge took her body there after she died during a fight they had in October 2019.
Prosecutor Dan Knight at one point asked Beary what he thought the cause and manner of death could be in this case. Defense attorney Scott Rosenblum objected to that, saying Beary did not have the qualification to answer a question normally left up to pathologists.
Steven Roberts, the man that found the remains during a hike he took around High Ridge Trail, took the stand. He says he saw a rectangular object that caught his eye off the trail that had a zipper. He kept investigating and found what looked to him like a skull.
"It was just a small portion that was visible, so I took the stick and was going to pry it up to look at that," Roberts said. "And it didn't move so at that time I decided to go up to the [park ranger]'s office."
Current or former Columbia police detectives took the stand on Friday morning that worked on the Mengqi Ji case.
During court, jurors watched several body cam videos from the day after Ji went missing and the day Elledge was arrested.
First CPD detective Kyle Joseph took the witness stand and the prosecution played Kyle's body camera footage from October 10, 2019, the day Elledge reported Ji missing.
In the video, Kyle asks Elledge several questions about where Ji could have gone. Elledge answers he doesn't know but that Mengqi left her passport, her car keys and her wedding ring.
In the video, Elledge pulls up messages between Ji and a man he says she was cheating on him with. Elledge continues that Mengqi seemed like she wanted nothing to do with him in the days and weeks before her disappearance.
Flash forward to October 25, 2019, the day Elledge was arrested by Thomas Quintana, a CPD Street Crimes detective. Elledge was in the car with his mother, daughter and his father Gene. The prosecution points out that Elledge had belongings in the car as if he was ready to leave town.
The prosecution also asked several of the law enforcement witnesses about a package delivery notice that was on the front door of Elledge and Jim's apartment, and bed sheets that were in a hamper in the apartment.
