Man Files Missing Persons Report for Mother, Arrested for Murder After Bones Found in Burn Pit

Now, 20-year-old Nicholas Thomas Yates has been arrested after his missing persons report turned into a murder investigation, with him the prime suspect, according to a press release from the Indiana State Police.

A deputy was engaged on October 5 for the missing persons report for Cheryl Yates in Clinton, Indiana, where they were told that Nicholas had not seen his mother since Friday, October 3. Yates told the deputy that all of her clothing, as well as her bank card and ID, were gone, but that her wallet, purse, and phone had been left behind, per a probable cause affidavit seen by Local 12, WTHR and WTWO.

Yates reportedly told police that he waited two days to reach out until he got "a message stating there was an error in dialing the number," per the affidavit. He was then asked why he would be trying to call her when he said she'd left her phone behind.

Yates responded, per the affidavit, that she had purchased a new phone with the same number. When asked by the deputy if they could see the old phone, Yates purportedly said he had sold it "because he needed the money."

"Upon asking Nick if he knew of anyone who would want to harm his mother, he advised ‘No, she was the sweetest person.’ (Emphasis added.)," the document reads, per WTWO, noting that his use of the word "was" was suspicious.

Yates even showed deputies an app that pinged her last known location at a bingo hall in Terre Haute on the evening of October 3, only to later admit that he was the one who had gone to the bingo hall on Friday, October 3, and that he'd brought his mother's phone with him. He said that he'd sold it at a Kroger kiosk there.

Deputies searched the house for any clues to where she could have gone and found a pill planner showing that she had taken her medications regularly until that same night. They also pinged her phone, which showed her location at a wooded area north of Newport, but a search with deputies, DNR (Indiana Department of Natural Resources) and a K-9 unit were not able to find her.

Investigators also spoke with two individuals who Yates had purportedly moved into his mother's room in the two days since her disappearance. When asked about this, Yates reportedly told police that he'd moved them in because he was scared to be alone.

The two individuals did not corroborate multiple parts of Yates' story, per the affidavit, including his claims that they were with him at the Kroger kiosk when he sold his mother's phone.

Additionally, they said that he spent most of Friday in the attic and much of the weekend cleaning the house, including his mother's bedsheets. Further, the new roommates said that they went to several stores and restaurants with Yates over the weekend and claimed he "paid for a majority of the items purchased," per the report.

When the sheriff reached out to Cheryl's supervisor, they were told that she left work on Friday at around 2:30 p.m. with her phone and they heard her say she was going to "kill him," referring to her son purportedly blowing all of his own money, leaving her to pay all of his bills. The supervisor also said that Cheryl had said her son had doctors appointments on Friday, which did not line up with the roommates saying he was in the attic most of the day.

After obtaining a search warrant for the Yates house, investigators discovered a burn pit in the backyard with a visible smoldering pile of papers. When asked about it, Yates told them he was burning his mother's DCS (Indiana Department of Child Services) papers because he didn't want to get in trouble for having other people's private information, per the affidavit.

Digging deeper, though, investigators reported they "discovered bones within the burn pit," adding, "The shape and appearance of the bones would lead one to believe that they perhaps were human bones. Particularly indicative of a human bone was one bone which appeared to be that of a human spinal cord."

On Monday, Yates was interviewed again by deputies, per WTWO, citing court documents. In this interview, he claimed that he'd not seen his mother for a month until he saw her on October 3. He said that on that day, they got into an argument about him moving out of the house.

He allegedly admitted to striking her in the throat, at which point he said that her face turned blue and she fell back, hitting her head on the metal bed frame and a nearby wooden chest, per the court filing, becoming unresponsive. He allegedly then put the body into a wooden box and transported it out to the burn pit the following morning, where he spent the majority of Saturday, October 4, burning it.

The new roommates later told investigators in separate interviews that Yates had first asked them if they wanted to move in as far back as Tuesday, September 30, and that he'd said he would need to know by Friday, October 3, if they wanted to move in because his mother was moving out.

Yates was charged with one count of Felony murder on Tuesday, October 7. He is currently being held in the Vermillion County Jail. His jury trial scheduled to begin on February 24, per WTHR.