Body of woman who went missing 5 years ago found

CLEVELAND, Tenn. (WKYT/WYMT) - A body found in Tennessee is that of a woman who went missing out of Williamsburg nearly five years ago.

Chattanooga CBS affiliate WDEF reports a body found Sunday evening in a wooded area near Cleveland, Tenn. has been identified as Laura Anderson.

The body was found in Bradley County, Tenn., just off of the APD-40 roadway.

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Anderson was reported missing in February 2018 and had last been seen near the Pilot gas station on KY-92 in Whitley County.

In September 2018, Joseph Bauer was charged and pled not guilty to Anderson’s murder. However, he eventually pleaded guilty to facilitation to commit murder, tampering with physical evidence and facilitation to commit robbery.

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Bauer was sentenced to 10 years in prison in September 2019.

Whitley County Commonwealth’s Attorney Ronnie Bowling says the remains were so old it may not be possible to say what Anderson’s cause and manner of death were.

However, police tell us they expect other arrests in the case but can’t say how many. Bowling says there are other persons of interest that they cannot identify at this time.

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