Ex-husband of Alabama woman who disappeared five years ago is charged with her murder


Ex-husband of Alabama woman who disappeared five years ago is charged with her murder after investigators identified remains found in a national forest 130 miles from her home

  • Thomas Whitehurst, 65, has been charged with the murder of Kimberley Mulder
  • Kimberley was last seen in 2016 as she set off to receive medical treatment
  • DNA analysis on a body discovered last year identified the remains as Kimberley

A man from Alabama has been charged with murder after experts identified human remains found in a forest as those of his ex-wife who had been missing for five years. 

Elmore County Sheriff’s Office said that 53-year-old Kimberley ‘Starr’ Mulder had last been seen on June 11, 2016, as she headed to Birmingham for medical treatment.

She was believed to have been picked up from her home in Wetumpka, which she shared with her ex, but never arrived at her destination. 

Kimberley’s ex-husband Thomas Whitehurst, 65, had been identified as a person of interest in the investigation into her disappearance.

Thomas Whitehurst, 65, (pictured) from Alabama has been charged with murder after experts identified human remains found in a forest as those of his ex-wife who had been missing for five years

Thomas Whitehurst, 65, (pictured) from Alabama has been charged with murder after experts identified human remains found in a forest as those of his ex-wife who had been missing for five years

Investigators found ‘minute’ traces of her blood inside Whitehurt’s vehicle and garage at the time, but with no body at the time they chose not to try the case. 

Chief Deputy Jeremy Amerson told Fox News that Kimberley’s family had been waiting since 2016 for an answer to his disappearance, but that it was ‘hard to prosecute somebody without a body’.

Last year though, authorities investigating Kimberley’s disappearance discovered human remains in Conecuh National Forest, 130 miles from her home.

The body was found to have had a bullet hole, from a small calibre firearm, between its eyes, and forensic investigators last week identified the remains as Kimberley.

DNA forensic analysis conducted on human remains found in in Conecuh National Forest identified the body as Kimberley (pictured) - and matched 'minute' blood traces found in Whitehurst's vehicle

DNA forensic analysis conducted on human remains found in in Conecuh National Forest identified the body as Kimberley (pictured) – and matched ‘minute’ blood traces found in Whitehurst’s vehicle

After DNA testing had been carried out on the recovered body, the remains matched the blood found in Whitehurt’s vehicle. 

Amerson said: ‘It wasn’t until the evidence came back from [the Alabama] Department of Forensic Sciences that said that’s actually a lady from Elmore County who was listed as missing.’

Whitehurst, who is now being held on a $1million bond, was arrested by officers in his car as he headed off to work, after deputies waited outside of his home.

Speaking to AL.com, Sheriff Bill Franklin said Whitehust knew he had been a significant part of the puzzle when officers originally investigated the disappearance.

‘He had been told by the investigator that the next time we came to see him, we’d probably have an arrest warrant for murder – and that’s exactly what happened,’ Franklin said. 

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