Man Reports Wife Missing After Killing Her, 'Rigged' SUV to Drive Her Into River on Fire: Police

Daniel Keith Flaherty, 42, had originally reported his wife Kayla Flaherty, 36, missing on the evening of Thursday, October 3, according to a probable cause affidavit seen by Law&Crime. He told authorities at that time that she had left at approximately 1:30 a.m. that morning to drive to her mother's house in Vincennes, Indiana, but never arrived.

"Dan Flaherty advised that Kayla Flaherty will typically text him, and let him know of her arrival and she did not," police said in the affidavit. The Gibson County Sheriff's Office partnered with Indiana State Police, Vincennes Police Department and other agencies in a "nearly around the clock" effort, per a press release from the GCSO.

The court document states that police found nothing on the route from the Flaherty home to Kayla's mother's house.

When police uncovered that Kayla had recently filed for divorce from her husband -- though he had reportedly not yet been served -- Dan allegedly admitted that they had had a "discussion about their relationship" that morning before she'd left.

Dan further told police that her credit card had been used at a gas station in the city Kayla's mother lived, per police. Authorities were able to pinpoint her vehicle there by a license plate reader, but that was the day prior to her disappearance, at approximately 11:50 pm. on Wednesday, October 2.

Dan told investigators, per the court document, she had returned to the house to "bring a backpack." When investigators tracked her cell phone's location data, they did not uncover any indication she had been heading toward her mother's house before disappearing.

He further told authorities that when he'd contacted the company behind vehicle tracking on their 2019 Toyota Highlander to turn on the feature remotely, they told him they were unable to do so, per the affidavit.

Then, Dan's story changed completely.

No longer was this a case of a woman who left to drive to her mother's house and vanished. According to the affidavit, he told state police that he'd struck her multiple times with a hammer in their living room Thursday morning.

Police then reported that Dan "rigged the vehicle to drive into the Wabash River and set fire to the 2019 Highlander along with the body of Kayla Flaherty." He was arrested on Friday, October 4.

According to the affidavit, Dan then told them on a map where they could find the vehicle in southwest Knox County, Indiana. Investigators reported that they did find the vehicle there, along with Kayla's remains, her phone and "identifying documents."

On Monday, Dan Flaherty made his first appearance in court on this matter, as reported by Law&Crime, where he entered a Not Guilty plea.

The defendant is being held in the Gibson County Jail without bond. A status hearing is scheduled for October 16. The Evansville Courier & Press reports that he's been charged with one felony count of murder, citing court records.

In explaining their stance, Gibson County Sheriff Bruce Vanoven said in a statement released October 5. "In critical times such as this we need to weigh multiple things as we proceed further with this investigation," adding, "First of all we need to allow Ms. Flaherty’s family time adequate time to be notified and to grieve."

The statement continued, "Also at this time we as law enforcement officers need to partner with the Gibson County Prosecutor’s Office as we prepare to present our case to the justice system so that Mr. Flaherty can be prosecuted to the fullest extent"