A US Army soldier who is accused of murdering his new wife had posted a plea on Facebook for help in the search a day before her body was found stuffed in a storm drain.
Zarrius Hildabrand, 21, was taken into custody on Friday after a days-long search for Alaska National Guard combat medic Saria Hildabrand, 21, the Anchorage Police Department said. He is charged with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence.
Mr Hildabrand reported his wife missing on 7 August. She was last seen on Sunday morning, leaving the Campbell Park apartment complex in Anchorage where she lived with her husband, to walk to work. But she never returned home.
As a search was launched for Saria, her husband joined the effort and shared his wife’s “missing” poster to his Facebook page, pleading with the public for help.
“Updated information on my missing wife PLEASE SHARE AND REPOST!!!!!!” Mr Hildabrand wrote on the post on Wednesday.
Saria’s body was found the very next day in a 4-by-5-foot storm drain near the couple’s apartment.
She had a gunshot wound to her left temple, Anchorage Daily News said, citing the police incident report.
The couple met at basic training last summer and were married in December 2022, according to her family.
Zarrius Hildabrand shared his wife’s “missing” poster to his Facebook page, pleading with the public for help finding her— (Zarrius Hildabrand/Facebook)
Mr Hildabrand is a cannon crewmember assigned to the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 11th Airborne Division at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
Saria joined the Alaska Army National Guard in April of 2023 1st Battalion, 297th Infantry Regiment as a combat medic. She moved from Utah to Alaska to be with him.
Her devastated mother, Meredith Barney, accused Mr Hildabrand of lying to the family, telling the Anchorage Daily News on Friday, “He walked around for hours with me searching for my daughter knowing that she was dead.
“He lied to me multiple times and tried to play it off like he was a concerned husband.”
Mr Hildabrand reportedly told investigators that he “didn’t really worry about his wife” until around 10pm on Sunday, when she didn’t return from her second job at a local restaurant.
He also told police that his wife walked to work that day because they were both hungover from the night before and neither felt like driving. She had also left her phone at home, he reported, which her family said was unusual for her to do.
In charging documents obtained by Law&Crime, Mr Hildabrand and Saria were out with friends on the night of 5 August, celebrating Zarrius’ 21st birthday.
They returned home around 2am and it was later reported that a neighbor heard a gunshot around 2.45am from a nearby apartment. It’s not confirmed what apartment the shot came from.
Saria Barney Hildabrand was found dead in Anchorage after a days-long search. Her 21-year-old husband has been arrested and charged with murder— (Saria Barney Hildabrand/Facebook)
Saria’s co-workers later told police they received text messages from her phone at 10.45am on Sunday stating she was calling out of work. This conflicted with Mr Hildabrand’s statement that she had left her phone at home when she went to work. He reportedly denied sending the texts himself.
When police interviewed Mr Hildabrand at the couple’s apartment on Tuesday, they spotted two guns on the table, according to KTUU. It was reported that one of the guns was fully loaded and the gun was missing a single bullet.
According to the criminal complaint, police noticed the bed was covered with only a mattress pad and new unopened sheets were nearby. When they asked Mr Hildabrand about it, he declined to lift the bed claiming there were “embarrassing” items like “stuff used for sex” underneath.
Police later learned that on 6 August, Mr Hildabrand had purchased a set of new sheets, a mattress cover, hydrogen peroxide, an empty spray bottle, and a jar of marinara sauce, according to the complaint. It’s not clear what the sauce was used for.
A search warrant was executed for the apartment and police found the mattress “saturated by human blood,” the complaint said.
“There was so much blood on the mattress that the blood soaked through onto the carpet and into the wood frame.”
The complaint also detailed evidence of blood all over the bathtub, “most likely after ‘cleanup’ attempts were made.”
Mr Hildabrand was dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit when he appeared in court on Friday. He was appointed a public defender and is being held on a $500,000 bond.
A GoFundMe page was originally set up to help raise money for Saria’s search. It’s now being used to help cover funeral costs— (GoFundMe)
Saria’s distraught family spoke to the media after the hearing and her mother said she had not had previous concern about her daughter’s husband.
“I didn’t, not anything that wasn’t abnormal for like newlywed people trying to figure out living together,” Barney said.
But she added that she suspected something was not right when Mr Hildabrand reportedly called her from Saria’s phone which he claimed she had left at home.
A GoFundMe page was originally set up to help raise money for the search. It’s now being used to help cover funeral costs and return Saria’s remains to Utah.
As of Monday morning, the fundraiser surpassed its $20,000 goal with a total of $20,452.
“She’s just like the most amazing, precious child ever,” her mom tearfully added on Friday. “She’s just always been looking for the future, happy, and really loved. She loved everybody. Everyone loved her.”
