EVANSVILLE, Ind. — An Evansville, Indiana man is facing charges in the disappearance and murder of teenager Megan Nichols in 2014. Brodey Ian Murbarger, 24, was indicted in September by a grand jury. He was arrested Wednesday without incident and is in jail awaiting extradition back to Illinois.
Nichols was 15 when she disappeared on July 3, 2014 from her home in Fairfield, Illinois. According to NBC News, she was considered a missing person as police said she withdrew money from a bank before her disappearance. She also left a note saying she loved her mother, but would never be happy at home. Her cell phone was also left behind and had been wiped clean.
Her family didn't believe she was actually a runaway though and her disappearance was featured in Dateline’s digital series “Missing in America."
Then in December of 2017, remains were found in a rural area in Illinois. A month later, they were identified as those of Nichols.
According to court documents, Murbarger was indicted on three counts of first degree murder, one count of concealment of homicidal death and two counts of home invasion. He’s accused of strangling and suffocating Nichols and burying her in a shallow grave.
There are reports that Murbarger and Nichols had at one point dated, but the FBI could not confirm that to Dateline because of the ongoing investigation.
If you have any information regarding the circumstances of Megan Nichol’s death, please contact the FBI at (217) 522-9675.
