Wisconsin man who reported his parents missing arrested after dad’s dismembered remains found

(NEW YORK) — A 23-year-old Wisconsin man is being held by authorities for allegedly shooting and dismembering his father, before hiding his remains.

Chandler Halderson reported his parents, Bart and Krista Halderson, missing last week, but was arrested a day later for providing false information to police, investigators said.

Human remains belonging to Bart Halderson, 50, have since been found.

Authorities confirmed the son is now being held on new tentative charges: mutilating and hiding a corpse and first-degree intentional homicide.

Krista Halderson, 53, is still missing.

The new accusations, listed on the Dane County Jail’s inmate roster, came as the Dane County Medical Examiner’s Office released a statement following an autopsy of the remains. It revealed that Bart died from “homicidal violence including firearm injury.”

The Dane County District Attorney’s office have not yet brought formal charges against Chandler Halderson in the death of his father. However, according to a probable cause statement released by the county, witnesses placed Chandler at an acquaintance’s address in Cottage Grove, Wisconsin, on July 5, when he was seen “reversing his vehicle with the rear hatch open in a field near a wooded area.” A human torso identified as Bart was found nearby.

The suspect told police his parents had spent July Fourth weekend at their cabin in White Lake, Langlade County, with an unknown couple, and they never returned. But when authorities searched the lake house, they found no evidence that anyone had been there.

“Halderson reported that his parents, Krista and Bart Halderson, were picked up by an unknown acquaintance in the early hours of July 1, 2021, to travel to the family’s cabin in White Lake, Wisconsin,” the probable cause statement said. “Halderson reported that his mother Krista had sent him a text message on July 4, 2021, stating that they had arrived and were in White Lake, and were planning on attending a parade that day. Investigation revealed that where was no parade and that Krista and Bart Halderson did not travel to their cabin in White Lake.”

Once investigators discovered Bart Halderson’s remains, Chandler Halderson was arrested.

“Chandler Halderson did know that his parents didn’t travel to the cabin, and intentionally made false statements to law enforcement regarding his parent’s whereabouts,” the statement concluded.