Husband charged with murder 25 years after missing woman’s body found in trash bags

ATLANTA — Atlanta police have arrested the husband of a missing woman who was found murdered over 25 years ago.

Melissa Wolfenbarger disappeared in December 1998 from her family’s home in Atlanta.

In April and June 1999, detectives found human remains in trash bags off Avon Ave. It wasn’t until March 2003 that testing confirmed that the remains belonged to Wolfenbarger.

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Sources told Channel 2′s Karyn Greer that police had enough evidence to charge Wolfenbarger’s husband, Christopher Wolfenbarger, who had been consider a person of interest for years.

At a news conference Wednesday, police confirmed they arrested Wolfenbarger at his home in Griffin. They said it was challenging because Wolfenbarger hid inside his home when officers arrived.

Melissa’s mother, Norma Patton, said she knew she would eventually see the day the suspect in her daughter’s murder was arrested.

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