Camden County man stored girlfriend’s body in a fridge, then left it in a N.J. state forest, authorities say
Authorities said Christopher Blevins loaded Laura Hughes' body into a refrigerator and onto his pickup truck to drive it to Belleplain State Forest.
Weeks after a New Jersey woman’s body was found inside a refrigerator abandoned in a South Jersey state park, her boyfriend has been charged with dumping the corpse in Belleplain State Forest in Cape May County.
Christopher Blevins, 45, of Gloucester City, faces charges of disturbing and desecrating remains and hindering apprehension for taking the body of 50-year-old Laura Hughes to the park and leaving it there last July, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest.
Authorities have not said how Hughes died or whether they are investigating the case as a homicide.
The Cape May County Medical Examiner’s Office could not be reached for comment. A spokesperson for the New Jersey State Police said the investigation is continuing and declined further comment.
Bevins was arrested last week in Mexico, where authorities say he had been staying since August. Hughes’ body was discovered in late December.
No attorney for Blevins was listed in court documents.
Last month, authorities found Hughes’ body inside a refrigerator left abandoned in the nearly 23,000-acre state forest, the affidavit said. The refrigerator was wrapped in a sleeping bag, secured with blue ratchet straps, and covered in a carpet, according to the document.
Automatic license plate readers captured Blevins’ green Dodge Ram pickup truck in Sea Isle City and Long Beach Township in late July, hauling a refrigerator-shaped object in the truck bed, according to the affidavit.
Investigators later searched the home Blevins shared with Hughes and found blue ratchet straps, a firearm, and a calendar with the days marked with an “x” every day until July 24, the affidavit said.
The couple had a stormy relationship, authorities said, and a history of domestic violence and drug and alcohol use.
On Aug. 2, Blevins traveled to Mexico, crossing the border through Brownsville, Texas, and “remained in hiding” for several weeks, the document said.
For reasons that are unclear, on Aug. 27, Blevins told authorities in Mexico City that he had panicked and fled the U.S. after getting into a violent incident in Runnemede and may have killed someone in a bar fight, the affidavit said.