Murder charge filed against Columbia man accused of putting significant other’s body in trash bin

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

EDITOR'S NOTE: The suspect's age has been corrected.

A murder charge was filed Tuesday against a Columbia man accused of putting his significant other's body in a City of Columbia trash bin and dumping it into a body of water.

Andrew B. Acton, 53, was charged Tuesday with second-degree murder in Boone County. He had already been charged with abandoning a corpse and evidence tampering.

An amended criminal complaint filed Tuesday did not say what information led to the new charge. The complaint accuses Acton of strangling or smothering the victim sometime between Oct. 1, 2025, and May 10, 2026.

A Boone County Sheriff's Office release Tuesday evening said "there was evidence present to indicate she was possibly murdered." Acton and the 47-year-old Columbia woman were in a relationshp and living together.

Acton was arrested last month during a traffic stop after law enforcement found his Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck matched a similar vehicle seen entering the Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area on May 11. A security camera in the area observed that the truck was carrying a City of Columbia trash bin, similar to the one in which the body was found inside.

The trash can was initially recovered by a fisherman at the Providence boat access, who reported seeing a human leg wrapped in a blanket inside. The remains were identified as a 47-year-old woman from Columbia.

Acton's last listed address is in the 3000 block of Bray Avenue in southwest Columbia. County records show the home was foreclosed on in March, with the property being purchased by HBH Holdings at the end of the month.

According to documents from the Missouri Secretary of State's office, Acton was a former owner of the now-closed 63 Diner in Columbia.