News Release



For further information please contact: Sgt. Jason Clark

(573) 522-0980

DDCC102306

October 23, 2006



EMPHASIS: Missouri Information Analysis Center Assists With Murder Investigation In Killeen,Texas





Colonel James F. Keathley, Superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, announces as a result of a collaborative investigation with the Missouri Information Analysis Center “MIAC”, Troop- B Investigative Unit, and the Unionville Missouri Police Department authorities were able to assist the Killeen, Texas, Police Department solve the Homicide of Stephanie Swearingen, age 23.



The Unionville Police Department contacted the Troop B Investigative Unit, of the Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control, after they had received information from a person who overheard details of the murder while attending a party in the Unionville area. Investigators from the Division of Drug and Crime Control began an investigation, and with the assistance of Intelligence Analysts of the MIAC, were able to determine the identity of the suspect. After patrol investigators contacted Texas authorities, they discovered that Stephanie Swearingen had been reported missing on October 14, 2006.



The Killeen Police Department used the information discovered by the MIAC in the missing persons case and later arrested Tye Van Swearingen, age 25, a Soldier at Fort Hood, Texas for murder. Tye Swearingen was the husband of the victim and later confessed to the homicide and led Killeen Police to the location of the victim’s body. At approximately 3:00 p.m. on October 18, 2006, police recovered the body of Stephanie Swearingen at the Live Oak Cemetery in Killeen, Texas, where she had been buried in an existing grave at the Cemetery.



“I would like to commend the Unionville Police Department, the Missouri Information Analysis Center and the Investigators involved in this case. The information developed during this case was crucial during this homicide investigation and displays the importance that law enforcement gains by working together with shared intelligence,” stated Colonel Keathley.



The above charges are mere accusation and are not evidence of guilt. Evidence in support of the charges must be presented before a court of competent jurisdiction whose duty is to determined guilt or innocence.