By Shannon McFarlin WENK/WTPR News Director
Camden, Tenn.—An Ohio man who claims he dumped his wife’s body along the Tennessee River in Benton County may be returned to the area to help investigators find her but in the meantime Benton County Sheriff Kenny Christopher said the man keeps changing his story and is now refusing to answer anymore questions.
Philip Snider of Hartville, Ohio, in Northeast Ohio, supposedly left his home January 4 with his terminally ill wife for a special trip to Graceland in Memphis for her birthday. But only Philip has returned home to Ohio.
Snider, who is 72, told his family and police that his wife, Roberta, who would have turned 70, died in their truck on the way to Memphis. The couple had been married for 53 years.
According to Christopher, Snider has not been charged with anything at this point.
But, Christopher told WENK/WTPR, “At this point, we don’t know if she’ll ever be found.”
Snider has told investigators several stories at this point, Christopher said, “and now he’s refusing to say anything else. They gave him a lie detector test in Ohio and some of his statements showed as deceitful, but the part about him dumping her body along the river showed to be truthful.”
Christopher said his deputies and the Benton County Rescue Squad have spent a considerable amount of time searching along the Tennessee River and under the bridge. “We went up with the THP helicopter and did not see her,” he said.
Snider told investigators that he wrapped her body in two plastic bags before dumping her. He also said he had driven around with her body in their truck for two days before he dumped her body. Christopher said Snider also had told investigators that he flagged down an ambulance and asked for help and the ambulance drivers took her body away. He said he didn’t know where the ambulance took her so he came home.
When Snider came home without his wife, Roberta’s brother called Hartville Police to reporting her missing and on hopes the police could help bring her body back to Ohio.
But the Hartville Police investigators determined that law enforcement in Tennessee have no record of her death or any record of a Jane Doe matching her description.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Benton County Sheriff’s Office at 731-584-4632. To reach Hartville police, call 330-877-2500.