Body of Missing Texas Woman Last Seen Alive a Year Ago Found in Boyfriend’s Refrigerator

Texas authorities located the remains of a missing woman inside her boyfriend’s refrigerator, police said. 

Heather Louise Schwab, 35, was reported missing on July 28 by her mother, who told police she was abused by her boyfriend Chad Christopher Stevens, 41, and feared for her life, WFAA reported.

According to the affidavit, Stevens told police after the missing persons report was filed that he hadn't seen or heard from Schwab in over a year.

Police executed a search warrant connected to the alleged assault of an ex-girlfriend at Stevens’s home on Sunday. That’s when police discovered the entry to the kitchen had been “suspiciously closed and concealed from the remainder of the residence with a piece of sheet rock,” NBC News reported. 

Schwab's body was found in a refrigerator wrapped in "copious amounts of plastic wrap,” the outlet reported. 

Stevens was arrested at the scene and charged with evidence tampering with intent to impair a human corpse and assault causing bodily injury to a family member, jail records show.

Stevens then reportedly told police that Schwab had died in his home July 26, 2022, and he hid her body in the fridge, claiming he didn’t know what to do with it.

There were no leads in Schwab’s case until Stevens’s ex-wife contacted Schwab’s mom and expressed concern that Stevens had killed the woman and buried her in the backyard, the outlet reported.

Police interviewed the ex-wife and said they got photos and video of Stevens’s property, which reportedly revealed “several anomalies” in the backyard “that were of interest.”

“Our hearts go out to Heather’s family, friends, and neighbors during this extremely difficult time,” the police department said.