Ft. Polk soldier, girlfriend arrested for trying to dump victim with children in car

A Fort Polk soldier and his girlfriend were arrested after the body of the man’s wife was found in the trunk of a car Sunday evening, authorities said.

During a news conference on Monday, Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Tony Mancuso said he got a call from the Beauregard Sheriff’s Office at 9:30 p.m. of a man and woman “driving around with a body in their car, looking for a place to dump it.” Deputies located the car on North Franklin Street in Lake Charles.

“They searched the car and sure enough there was a body in the trunk,” Mancuso said.

Driving the car was Sarah M. Parker, 24, 2553 Brackenridge Road, Moss Bluff; the passenger was Logan T. Kyle, 22, of Fort Polk, an active duty solider and the husband of the woman found in the trunk. Parker’s two children, ages 1 and 2, were in the back seat.

Kyle is a captain with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division.

Mancuso said the woman had been killed at Fort Polk and that Parker attempted to aid Kyle with the disposal and concealment of the body.

“It’s unfortunate because a young female is deceased now at the hands of her husband,” Mancuso said.

Mancuso said Parker was booked into the Calcasieu Correctional Center and charged with obstruction of justice and failure to report a homicide. Her bond is still pending.

Parker’s two children were taken into state custody by the Department of Children and Family Services, Mancuso said.

Because the homicide happened at Fort Polk, CPSO detectives detained Kyle, who was later picked up by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division.

“Unfortunately many times when we get these cases like this, the body is already dumped,” Mancuso said. “They were actively driving around trying to dump this body in different places from Vernon all the way down through Calcasieu Parish. There’s no question they were going to dump this body somewhere regardless of whether it was in Calcasieu or in another parish.

“We are very fortunate that we were actually able to find them with the body and it makes it that much easier for us to investigate and, of course hopefully, with the prosecution of it.”

Det. Keeba Barber is the lead investigator.