Suspect charged with murder

CELINA - A Marion, Indiana, woman charged with the murder of 21-year-old Ryan Zimmerman is being held without bond after making her initial appearance Friday in Celina Municipal Court.

Sarah Buzzard, 30, faces 10 charges, including two unclassified felony counts of murder, which each hold a potential maximum sentence of 15 years to life in prison and a $15,000 fine.

She also has been charged with felonious assault, a second-degree felony; four counts of tampering with evidence, third-degree felonies; grand theft of a motor vehicle, a fourth-degree felony; and two counts of gross abuse of a corpse, a fifth-degree felony and a second degree misdemeanor.

Buzzard allegedly confessed to strangling Zimmerman and dismembering his body. His skeletal remains were found on Jan. 3, 2016, east of U.S. 127 at the mouth of Coldwater Creek by a woman walking her dog. Only his torso was found.

Municipal court judge Kathryn Speelman on Friday ordered Buzzard be held in the Mercer County jail without bond pending the result of a hearing to further deny Buzzard bail.

Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Erin Minor requested Buzzard be denied bail for multiple reasons. The nature of the charges against Buzzard would necessitate "significant violence and depravity," Minor said.

Additionally, when law enforcement on Wednesday attempted to arrest Buzzard's wife, 33-year-old Naria Jenna Whitaker, Whitaker instead killed herself. According to Mercer County Sheriff Jeff Grey, Whitaker had pulled a handgun from her purse and died at the scene of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Minor said the incident led prosecutors to believe Buzzard could pose a risk to herself or others if released.

Law enforcement also reportedly found a large sum of cash while searching Buzzard and Whitaker's residence in Marion, and given Buzzard's history of cross country and international travel, Buzzard could pose a flight risk, Minor said.

Buzzard told Speelman Friday her family was in the process of obtaining a lawyer on her behalf.

Another preliminary hearing in Celina Municipal Court is to be scheduled within the next 10 days.

Mercer County Sheriff Jeff Grey during a Thursday morning news conference announced the arrest of Buzzard and her wife's suicide, both of which occurred on Wednesday.

Both women are believed to have been involved in the homicide of Zimmerman, Grey said Thursday.

Grey described it as a complicated and unusual case that has taken many twists and turns. The women are believed to have brought Zimmerman's bones to Mercer County.

"Ryan was from Corbin, Kentucky, and he had recently moved to Columbus, Ohio, to live with friends that he met online. Ryan was pretty active on social media accounts and different platforms, met a lot of people from all over the country," Grey said Thursday. "He met people from Columbus and decided to go up there and spend some time with them and live with them."

A multi-agency operation unfolded in three states on Wednesday, as law enforcers and Bureau of Criminal Investigation agents sought to simultaneously conduct interviews with multiple suspects and witnesses to prevent them from communicating with one another. Mercer County detectives were dispatched to Columbus; Marion, Indiana; and Oak Island, North Carolina, Grey said.