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Few Answers in Search for Missing Homicide Victim

WYOMING COUNTY, Pa. — There are few answers about a homicide investigation in Wyoming County and what may have led to the death of a woman who went missin...

WYOMING COUNTY, Pa. -- There are few answers about a homicide investigation in Wyoming County and what may have led to the death of a woman who went missing late last month.

According to court papers, the suspect Phillip Walters, 31, of Mill City, was in a relationship with the homicide victim and reported her missing on December 30. Investigators say another woman who was also seeing Walters came forward and says she helped Walters get rid of the victim's body.

Walters is behind bars in Wyoming County and charged with the death of Haley Lorenzen, 24.

Police say Lorenzen is from Oregon and moved in with Walters in November of last year. Court paperwork implies the two were in a romantic relationship.

According to police, a first-floor apartment here along Route 307 in the Mill City area of Overfield Township is where Lorenzen was living with Walters. It was from this house that Walters told police Lorenzen went missing last month.

But nine days later, a woman came forward with a different story.

According to court papers, this woman says she is also in a relationship Walters and told him she no longer wanted to be "the other woman," and Walters talked about killing Lorenzen something she didn't take seriously.

This woman told police that on December 30, Walters told her he killed Lorenzen by choking her in bed and struck her in the head with a hammer. Then, she helped him tie rocks to her body and dump it in the Susquehanna River.

"So horrible that someone would, you know, go through allegedly that horrible and do that to somebody. You hear about that in the bigger cities, But anymore you hear about it in places like this. it's so unfortunate," said Bob James.

Search and recovery teams were out on the river trying to find Lorenzen's body on Thursday but could not return Friday because of unsafe conditions on the river.

"The water, of course, is obviously very, very cold, so I don't know how they'll do that. But all those people searching for that woman are also in danger now and it's just shocking and sad that something like this had to happen anywhere, but around here, too," said James.

The Tunkhannock Township police chief tells us this is still an ongoing investigation and he hopes the conditions on the Susquehanna River will allow search teams to continue looking for Lorenzen's body this weekend.

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