Montreal man charged with murder of Camden County missing man
MONTREAL, Mo. (KMIZ)
A Montreal man is charged with second-degree murder and other charges following an investigation about a missing man from Camden County in June.
A Camden County prosecutor has charged Eric Cole with second-degree murder, stealing, abandonment of a corpse and conspiracy to commit class a/b/c felony or unclass felony exceeding 10 years.
Cole is accused of being with missing man Tanner Elmore when Elemore overdosed and died in June.
Elmore went missing from the Camdenton Walmart on the evening of June 7 and surveillance photos recovered from Walmart helped identify another man as a person of interest in the case.
On July 11, an anonymous call helped identify Cole as the man in the Walmart photos, according to the probable cause statement.
On July 13, Cole was taken into custody by Jefferson City police on unrelated charges, according to the release.
During their investigation, Cole reportedly told a detective that he and Elmore drove to Jefferson City from Camdenton with the intent to purchase heroin, according to court documents. Cole says that while using the narcotics together, Elmore had an adverse reaction and overdosed. Cole attempted to obtain Narcan from an acquaintance but was unsuccessful, according to the probable cause statement.
Cole then drove Elmore back to Camden County and allegedly dumped the body at the McCubbins Point area of Lake of the Ozarks State Park in a wooded area. Before leaving the area, Cole took money from Elmore’s body and his cell phone which he later sold, according to the release.
On July 14, Cole showed detectives where he dumped the body, according to the probable cause statement. After several hours of searching the surrounding area, detectives found Elmore’s remains in an advanced state of decomposition consistent with the time frame described. Elmore's remains were wearing the same clothing he was last seen wearing on the night of his disappearance.
Cole is being held without bond in the Cole County Jail. He will be extradited to Camden County to face these charges in the Camden County Circuit Court.
Cole does not have a defense attorney listed, according to online court records.
