[Tragic] Online Date Turns Into a Horror Story
And you thought your online dating stories were bad.
In a gruesome story out of Seattle, John Robert Charlton, 37, is being held on $2 million bail as the primary suspect in the murder and dismembering of Ingrid Lyne, a 40-year-old mother of three.
The two met on an online dating site, and had been seeing each other for about a month before Lyne went missing. Charlton has a history of violence and crime, but is declaring his innocence by telling police that he was too drunk to remember anything that happened that night.
Investigators found different parts of Lyne's body dumped in a Seattle recycling bin, and found a 15-inch pruning saw, blood, and bits of flesh in her home bathroom.
An anonymous source told the Seattle Times that "significant" physical evidence had been found in Lyne's home. The source said investigators also found bags in her home that were "identical in color and size" to the one's that contained her body parts.
Police have released information regarding Charlton's past, and it is filled with previous criminal offenses, including jail time in Utah and Montana. His own parents even filed a restraining order against him in 2006 stating that they feared for their own safety during his drunken outbursts.
The two met on an online dating site, though it is unclear which specific site Lyne was using when she met Charlton. The suspect was taken into custody when officials found abrasions on his forehead and left hand, despite a previous claim that he was not injured. Detectives also found injuries on his lip and chin, and scratch marks on his chest.
Charlton has told authorities that he could not recall what happened on the night of Lyne's murder, but claims that after the two returned from a Mariner's baseball game, Lyne was acting "weird." He claims he is unsure how he left Lyne's house but spent the night sleeping on the sidewalks of Seattle.
Lyne's ex-husband was the first to report her missing when he arrived at her house to find no one was home. He alerted Lyne's family and when her mother, Jorga Bass, texted Charlton to ask when the last time he had seen her daughter, he responded with, "911? What's going on? We went to the Mariners game last night but we didn't stay the night together because she has her kids today... not sure what she has told you about me and our relationship." Bass then told him that the police were looking to speak with Charlton, but she never got a response.
Lyne's friends spoke out about their loss when their friend's remains were found. "It's just so wrong; it was just so wrong," a longtime friend told Q13. "Why did he do this? And why did he put her in pieces?" She asked. "To think about their kids, and they need their mom. Kids, they need a mom."
Lyne's family released a statement remembering her as a "beloved mother, daughter, sister, and friend." They included an update on Lyne's three daughters, saying, "While devastated, they have been amazingly resilient and we couldn't be more proud of how they have handled what will be the worst news of their young lives."
(Photos from left: Montana DOC, Courtesy of Ingrid Lyne's Family)