Authorities recover missing remains of murdered woman

KSDK -- The Franklin County prosecutor's office said investigators have recovered the missing remains of a woman found dead inside a trash can outside an apartment complex.

The Missouri State Water Patrol and members of the Major Case Squad found body parts of Stephanie Fields Thursday night along the Meramec River, down river from the I-44 Bridge at Times Beach, according to the Franklin County prosecutor's office.

The remains were taken to the medical examiner's office for identification and will be released to the family for burial.

Authorities believe Vernell J. Loggins, Jr., of Pacific, stabbed his girlfriend and dumped her dismembered body in a trash bin and covered it in ice. Maintenance workers discovered Fields' body on Tuesday.

Loggins is being held in the Franklin County Jail on $1 million cash-only bond.

Wednesday was Fields' birthday. She would have been 26.