Dismembered Remains In Lenexa U-Haul Storage Unit ID'd As Mom

KANSAS CITY, MO — The dismembered human remains found inside a cooler and tote at a U-Haul Moving and Storage facility in Lenexa were confirmed in a preliminary autopsy to be those of a woman whose husband was staying in the unit with their 4-day-old baby and 2-year-old child.

An arrest affidavit for Justin Rey, 35, who is homeless, was released on Tuesday. He was jailed on $1 million bond in Johnson County, Kansas, on two counts each of aggravated child endangerment and contributing to a child's misconduct or deprivation.

He's not charged in the death of his wife, whom family identified as Jessica Monteiro Rey, whose remains were discovered on Oct. 24. Officers had been called to check on the welfare of two small children staying in a unit that was emitting a foul odor.

Responding officers spoke to a man who was pushing a stroller and had given Rey and his children a ride to the storage unit after finding them waiting for a bus near a Kansas City, Missouri, bar, a Lenexa police detective wrote in the affidavit. Rey is homeless, and the man had seen people giving Rey money. Rey told U-Haul workers that he had stayed in the unit overnight and told the man that he and his children were planning to do so again, the affidavit said.

Emergency responders checked on the children, who were later taken to a hospital. The baby wasn't wearing adequate clothing and had an eye infection, the affidavit said.

After Rey was arrested and put in a police vehicle, he was asked about his wife's whereabouts. He responded that she had died several days earlier and was in the cooler and one of the totes, which he was trying to remove from the storage unit, the detective wrote.

The affidavit didn't explain how she died, although a Jackson County, Missouri, search warrant said Rey told authorities his wife killed herself after giving birth.

Rey, his pregnant wife and a 2-year-old child checked into a Kansas City, Missouri, hotel in September, according to the warrant. Rey called the front desk, disguised his voice as a woman's and checked out on Oct. 23, according to hotel management, the warrant said. Surveillance video footage showed him pulling a red cooler with a black bag on top through the hotel, while pushing a stroller with a toddler walking beside him, the warrant said.

Rey's attorney, Courtney Henderson, didn't immediately return an email message from The Associated Press early Wednesday. During a court appearance earlier this month, Rey was removed after a screaming rant against authorities.

By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH, The Associated Press

Photo credit: Tammy Ljungblad/The Kansas City Star via AP