A Kentucky man stands accused of storing a murder victim’s body beneath his trailer for four days before a botched attempt to throw her off a bridge ended with her remains dumped along a rural roadside, launching a seven-year journey to a murder indictment that defied every expectation of swift justice.
Story Snapshot
- Ryan “Todd” Crawley, 42, faces murder and kidnapping charges for the August 2019 death of April Arnett, a 39-year-old mother of three
- Crawley allegedly concealed Arnett’s body under his trailer for four days before disposing of it on Old Lexington Road in Madison County, Kentucky
- A failed attempt to drop the body from Old Clay’s Ferry Bridge, thwarted by a guy wire, preceded the roadside dump discovered by passersby
- Despite guilty pleas to evidence tampering and corpse abuse in 2024, murder charges came seven years after the killing, with trial scheduled for May 2027
- Five accomplices, including Crawley’s cousin who fled to Oregon, aided in the kidnapping and disposal efforts
When a Bridge Disposal Goes Wrong
Ryan “Todd” Crawley and his cousin Ronald “Doug” Crawley drove to Old Clay’s Ferry Bridge in Madison County on August 17, 2019, carrying a tarp-wrapped body weighted down with cinder blocks.
Their plan to dispose of April Arnett’s remains over the bridge railing collapsed when the body snagged on a guy wire, visible to anyone who might pass.
Forced to improvise, they transported the body to Old Lexington Road near Kentucky Highway 2328, where they left it on the roadside. Passersby discovered Arnett’s remains around 9 PM that evening, triggering a Kentucky State Police investigation that would stretch across nearly eight years.
Kentucky man accused of kidnapping, killing mom-of-3 and keeping her body under trailer before disposal https://t.co/Wt9rJwvMMh pic.twitter.com/xBSgqd9KlZ
— New York Post (@nypost) May 6, 2026
Four Days Under a Trailer
Authorities allege Crawley killed Arnett on August 13, 2019, in Scott County, wrapping her body in a tarp and hiding it beneath his trailer. The cause of death remains unclear in court documents, and prosecutors have not publicly disclosed a motive for the killing.
Four additional individuals allegedly assisted Crawley in the kidnapping, though their identities and specific roles remain unnamed in available sources.
This storage period, confirmed through evidence gathering that spanned years, became central to the tampering and corpse abuse charges Crawley and his cousin eventually admitted to in 2024. The Scott County location of the killing only emerged publicly with the 2026 murder indictment.
The Seven-Year Gap to Murder Charges
Crawley faced initial kidnapping-related charges in 2019 alongside five others, including Ronald Crawley, who fled to Oregon before his arrest in October 2019.
Both men pleaded guilty in 2024 to evidence tampering and abuse of a corpse in Madison County, resolving charges tied to the disposal.
Yet murder and kidnapping indictments from Scott County did not arrive until early 2026, prompting Crawley’s defense team to argue the timing “raises questions” about prosecutorial strategy.
Kentucky law imposes no statute of limitations on murder, giving prosecutors unlimited time to build their case. Crawley pleaded not guilty at his March 2, 2026, arraignment, setting the stage for a trial scheduled to run May 17-28, 2027, in Scott County Circuit Court.
A Mother’s Legacy and Unanswered Questions
April Arnett left behind three children, who have now been living with the weight of her death for nearly a decade. The delay in murder charges means her family has waited years for accountability beyond tampering convictions, watching as evidence slowly accumulated to support the gravest allegations.
Rural Madison and Scott County communities, already familiar with interpersonal violence patterns reflected in Kentucky State Police data, absorbed the trauma of a roadside body dump and the protracted legal aftermath.
The case underscores the tension between thorough investigation and the toll of delayed justice on victims’ families, particularly when circumstances like body storage under a trailer require meticulous evidence collection to prove intent and culpability beyond a reasonable doubt.
Kentucky man accused of kidnapping, killing woman and keeping her body under trailer before disposal https://t.co/EY0a3QACc5
— Hot Talk 99.5 WRNN (@995WRNN) May 6, 2026
If convicted, Crawley faces a potential life sentence, marking another chapter in Kentucky’s push to close cold cases through persistent detective work.
The prosecution’s decision to pursue murder charges years after securing tampering pleas reflects confidence in evidence tying Crawley directly to Arnett’s death in Scott County, distinct from the Madison County disposal site. Ronald Crawley’s guilty plea and cooperation, combined with witness accounts of the botched bridge dump, likely fortified the state’s case.
Yet the defense will challenge whether seven years of investigation justifies what they frame as procedural delays, testing jurors’ willingness to accept justice delivered long after the crime.
For Arnett’s children and rural Kentucky communities scarred by acquaintance violence, the 2027 trial represents a reckoning decades in the making.
Sources:
Kentucky man accused of kidnapping, killing woman and keeping her body under trailer before disposal
Man indicted for 2019 murder of Kentucky mother whose body was found dumped on roadside
