BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (FOX 9) - A recently filed search warrant is shining new light on a 16-year-old murder mystery in Bloomington.
The backstory:
In September 2009, April Pease disappeared from a domestic violence shelter in Bloomington. She has not been seen or heard from since. Authorities believe she was killed by an abusive ex-boyfriend and her remains are buried somewhere in Oklahoma. The pair also shared a son.
The alleged killer, Cedric Marks, a former MMA fighter, is currently on Death Row in Texas having been convicted of capital murder in a separate double slaying that occurred years after Pease disappeared.
The investigation
Dig deeper:
Bloomington police have never stopped looking for Pease. Earlier this month, a Hennepin County judge signed off on a search warrant giving investigators permission to forensically search Marks’ Oculus virtual reality gaming system and Sony PlayStation4 that was located in a Columbus, Ohio storage facility.
According to the court filings, Marks’ ex-girlfriend recalls him searching Oklahoma locations on the devices before he was sent to prison. He buried the other two victims in Oklahoma.
Bloomington police hope there may be clues on the gaming equipment that might point to where he may have disposed of Pease.
Ex-boyfriend charged with murder
What we know:
In 2019, Marks murdered two people in Texas and buried their bodies in a shallow grave in Clearview, Oklahoma near land owned by his family. He was subsequently convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death.
At the time, the killings prompted Bloomington police to take a fresh look at Pease’s disappearance given her prior, volatile relationship with Marks, including a bitter custody dispute.
According to court documents, Marks’ girlfriend at the time, told investigators he killed Pease after they tracked her down at the women’s shelter in Bloomington and drove her to Oklahoma.
She said Marks then cut off Pease’s hands and ripped out her teeth, so her remains would never be identified. Authorities never found her.
Meanwhile, Marks and his ex-girlfriend were both charged with second-degree murder in Hennepin County. Marks’ case is considered dormant in the courts. But Bloomington police continue to follow up on all possible leads.
READ MORE: Two charged with murder of April Pease on 11th anniversary of her disappearance
There is a $2,000 reward for information about the case.
What they're saying:
When asked about the new search warrant, a Bloomington police spokeswoman told FOX 9, "The April Pease case is still open with our investigators. When new information arises, they have been following up to determine if there is anything additional to provide to the attorney’s office. The reward is still in place. We do not have anything in addition to what is already public to provide."