Columbia police to again search river for remains of Mengqi Ji

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia Police Department said Wednesday that it would make another attempt at finding a woman's remains in the Lamine River.

Police suspended the search for Mengqi Ji's remains in the river near Boonville in June. Ji went missing last October. Her husband, Joseph Elledge, has been charged with her murder.

Elledge was indicted on first-degree murder charges in connection to the disappearance in February. He also faces multiple charges of child abuse.

City utility crews constructed a levee in the river this summer at a cost of $50,000 to aid in the search.

A receding river has allowed for further searching, a CPD official said in a news release. Crews will remove part of the levee and investigators will look for remains and other evidence in the material that is removed, according to the release.

"There is still the possibility of not finding any evidence while the levee is being removed," the department said in the release.