Columbia man charged with abandoning corpse at hotel

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia man was charged on Tuesday in Boone County with abandoning a corpse in August.

A warrant for Sugar Ray Hibbler’s arrest was requested on Tuesday. A motion to set a $25,000 was filed.

According to the probable cause statement, someone died in Hibbler’s hotel room on Aug. 8 of a suspected overdose and that Hibbler, 44, did not call for help or notify EMS. The name of the victim was redacted, but the name “Surface” is shown in the statement multiple times. The name of the hotel was not included in the statement.

The victim was found dead by hotel staff on Aug. 9, the statement says. No one else was in the room when staff entered, according to the statement.

Hotel staff allegedly told police that the room was rented to an individual, but Hibbler was the primary resident for months. Hibbler was allegedly arrested in Clay County for a warrant on Aug. 10 and was brought to the Buchanan County Jail. He was not listed on the jail roster on Tuesday.

Hibbler allegedly admitted to finding the victim dead between 5-5:30 p.m. Aug. 8, according to the statement. He claimed to use NARCAN and do CPR, but did not call EMS. Hibbler allegedly said he went to grab someone else in another hotel room, who told him the victim was dead, the statement says. Police allegedly found video footage confirming that Hibbler left the room and came back with another man, the statement says.

Both men were allegedly seen leaving the room and another man went into the room with Hibbler, the statement says.

Hibbler allegedly left the hotel the next morning with multiple bags and did not notify hotel staff, the statement says.