06/28/2004 - Report #375 - Victim: Deanna Denise Howland - Location: Warren County, MO
MCS Report #375
Classification: Homicide
Date of Activation: 06/28/2004
Requesting Agency: Warren County Sheriff’s Department
Commander and Department: Maj. Bob Lowery Jr, Florissant PD
Deputy Report Officer and Department: Det. Mike Yarbrough, St. Charles County PD
Date of Reactivation: 01/09/2023
Commander and Department: Maj. Randy Boden, Florissant PD
Commander and Department: Lt. Jack Abell, Clayton PD
Deputy Report Officer and Department: Det. Colton Brown, Chesterfield PD
Deputy Report Officer and Department: Sgt. Katy Styer, St. Louis County PD
Victim: Deanna Denise Howland
Suspect: Mike A. Clardy
The Warren County Sheriff’s Department requested the assistance of the Major Case Squad in investigating the death of Deanna Howland (age 35). Deputies responded to the Wright City Missouri rest area along I-70 after a maintenance worker trimming brush in the area located a headless, handless, and legless female torso. Investigators were not able to determine the identity of the victim.
In 2015, the Warren County Sheriff’s Department began looking into this case as a possible missing person from the Madison County (IL) Sheriff’s Department where she had been reported missing. She was last seen in May 2004. On 03/10/2016, the unidentified torso was confirmed as Deanna Howland after comparing DNA to that of her family members.
In late 2022, Mike Clardy (age 45 at the time of Deanna’s murder) was identified as a suspect in this case through DNA evidence. 18 years after Deanna’s murder, Mike was arrested in January 2023. It was determined that although Deanna’s remains were found in Warren County, she had been murdered in St. Ann.
Through this investigation, Mike Clardy was charged with Murder 2nd Degree and Abandonment of a Corpse. His bond was set at $1,000,000.
