For allegedly using a backhoe to bury the body of a missing Shelby County man and his Ford Ranger—both of which had been set on fire—a Montevallo man is currently in jail.
According to court documents, John Wesley Collum, 56, is accused of tampering with physical evidence, abusing corpses, and obstructing the prosecution.
Collum was taken into custody earlier this week in relation to the disappearance and possible death of Pelham resident Oscar De Santiago Soto, 36.
The disappearance of Soto, who was last seen at Orr Park in Montevallo at approximately 3:30 p.m. on June 18, prompted Montevallo police to begin an investigation earlier this month.
The last sighting of his 1998 black Ford Ranger was on Shelby County Road 73 in Montevallo, traveling south.
Officials from the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office requested that the ALEA’s State Bureau of Investigation begin looking into Soto’s case on Saturday, June 28.
The 2000 block of Randolph Road in Montevallo was identified as a site of interest in relation to Soto’s disappearance during the course of the inquiry, according to ALEA officials.
Authorities claimed to have discovered human remains there.
To verify the victim’s identity, those remains have been forwarded to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences.
No other information was disclosed.
According to the charges against him, Collum used a backhoe to assist another individual in burying human remains and Soto’s black Ford Ranger.
Collum allegedly burned the deceased and the pickup truck before burying them both, according to the criminal complaint.
The inquiry is still ongoing, according to ALEA officials.
The Montevallo Police Department, the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office, the Chilton County Sheriff’s Office, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigation, are all helping with the investigation.
The remains were recovered with assistance from Auburn University’s Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine.
There will likely be more arrests.
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