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Remains Found Near Kansas Barn Confirmed As Missing Nebraska Mother
Cari Allen disappeared from her Omaha residence on the night of Nov. 19, two weeks after ending her relationship with Aldrick Scott. Scott was arrested in Belize earlier this month on kidnapping charges and extradited.
The remains of a missing Nebraska woman have been identified more than a month after her disappearance, according to multiple law enforcement agencies.
Cari Allen, 43, disappeared from her Omaha residence on Nov. 19. Two days later, an unknown individual called 911 to report that Allen’s former boyfriend, Aldrick Scott, 47, had killed her, according to a criminal complaint obtained by ABC Omaha affiliate KETV.
Authorities with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office subsequently announced that Scott, who lived in Topeka, Kansas, was a “person of interest” in the case and issued a warrant for his arrest, charging him with kidnapping. On Dec. 6, with help from the U.S. Marshals Service and the Metro Fugitive Task Force, Scott was apprehended in the Central American country of Belize. He was subsequently extradited to the United States.
Cari Allen was still nowhere to be found.
Douglas County officials in Nebraska reached out to the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office in Kansas shortly before 3:00 p.m. on Dec. 21 after they “developed a lead” into Allen’s disappearance.
The tip led them to 2249 SW 57th Street in Topeka — about 170 miles south of where Allen disappeared. CBS Topeka affiliate WIBW-TV reported the address is a farm property with a house, and that investigators erected white tents near the property's barn. There, they found a body.
A postmortem examination on Friday revealed the body was Allen's. Her manner death was ruled a homicide, but the cause of death was not released.
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“The DCSO would like to send our deepest condolences to the Allen family,” said officials in making the announcement.
Shawnee County deputies echoed their sentiment, saying, “Our thoughts and prayers are with all of Cari Allen’s family and friends!”
Although Allen’s death is being investigated as a homicide, no one has yet officially been charged with her murder. Jail records reviewed by Oxygen.com do not yet show amended charges for Scott, who is being held at the Douglas County Jail on $10 million bond.
Douglas County Attorney Donald W. Kleine previously said they would review the postmortem findings before deciding whether to amend Scott’s charges, according to NBC Omaha affiliate WOWT.
“We have to make a determination of where does this fall within levels of crimes that have been committed here, and we’ll have to look at that information and make that determination,” Kleine told KETV.
Friends said Allen and Scott — a retired Army and Marine platoon sergeant — had previously been in a romantic relationship but that Allen broke things off about two weeks before her disappearance, according to WOWT.
Cell phone data allegedly placed both near the Good Life Bar in Omaha on the night of Allen's disappearance, according to WOWT. The same data revealed that Scott’s phone left the bar at around 10:30 p.m. and followed the same path as Allen’s toward Allen’s residence.
Surveillance video also allegedly captured Scott’s Chevy Equinox at the bar and then at Allen’s residence at around 11:00 p.m., according to KETV.
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The findings contradicted Scott’s later claims that he was in Topeka on the night of Allen’s disappearance.
Loved ones grew concerned when Allen’s teenage son stopped receiving texts from his mother at around 11:30 p.m., according to the Lincoln Journal Star.
Investigators reportedly found what appeared to be bullet holes in the door and walls of Allen’s bedroom, according to KETV. Allen’s cell phone and laptop were also reported missing, though it remains unclear whether they’ve been recovered.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and the Topeka Police Department subsequently “learned that Scott boarded a flight and left the United States," in the wake of Allen's disappearance. During Scott’s first court appearance after his capture, prosecutors said that a handgun, crowbar, nitrile gloves and sledgehammer were allegedly found in Scott’s vehicle.
After fleeing the county, Scott reportedly found work at a barbecue restaurant on the island of Caye Caulker in Belize and briefly lived with the restaurant’s chef, who knew Scott under his assumed name, “Nelson,” according to WOWT. The chef, who identified himself as Shalton Fuentes, told the outlet he was the person who turned Scott into authorities and is therefore entitled to the reward.
Loved ones say Allen was a Buena Vista University graduate who’d “spent her career devoted to caring for others, particularly those with developmental disabilities,” accounting to a GoFundMe page created to aid in searches.
Scott’s public defender is currently seeking to have the probable cause affidavit unsealed, the NBC outlet reported Wednesday. Scott could spent up to 40 years to life behind bars if convicted on the kidnapping charges he current faces.
