DONIPHAN — A woman who fled police in July with her five children in the vehicle was charged Monday with the murder of a Doniphan man.
Danisha Rachelle Price, 27, was charged with first-degree murder in the July 2018 death of 56-year-old Bruce Todd Ehrenberg.
Price has been held in the Wayne County Jail since her arrest July 17 near the Eleven Point River in Oregon County.
Ehrenberg’s body was discovered July 20 at the end of a Forest Service road in a remote part of western Ripley County. Family members had reported him missing five days earlier to Doniphan City Police. Ehrenberg resided in an apartment on Walnut Street next door to Price and was acquainted with the woman, investigators with the Current River Major Case Squad said.
Price reportedly had been a suspect since the start of the investigation in July. Investigators reportedly were awaiting DNA test results involving evidence taken from a 1999 Chevrolet Suburban owned by Ehrenberg and driven by Price.
According to a probable cause statement filed with the court by Sgt. Jeff Johnson of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, on the same day Ehrenberg was reported missing, Doniphan city police conducted a traffic stop of the vehicle.
Police corporal Taun Harber said Price was driving the vehicle and five young children were inside it at the time of the stop.
While police reportedly were waiting for a foster parent to arrive and take custody of the children, Price allegedly fled the scene in the Suburban and led officers on a high-speed pursuit on U.S. Highway 160 West. Due to safety factors, the pursuit was terminated before crossing into Oregon County.
The following day, the vehicle was located in a church parking lot along Highway 160 in eastern Oregon County.
The vehicle was towed to the Doniphan City Police Department, where it was later processed for evidence.
Investigators reportedly noticed several of what appeared to be blood stains on the headliner, front passenger seat and passenger door panel. A portion of blood stains on the headliner were painted over with purple nail polish, Johnson said in his statement.
A bottle of purple nail polish was recovered from the Suburban.
On July 17, Price and her five children were taken into custody by the Oregon County Sheriff’s Office after spending two nights along the river. Price reportedly had gone to residences in the area asking for food and use of a phone.
Later that day, Price was interviewed concerning her knowledge of Ehrenberg’s location. Price said she last saw him July 8 and did not know of his present location.
The children also were interviewed, Sgt. Johnson said.
“One of the children stated that Miss Price attempted to cover blood on the headliner of the Suburban with purple fingernail polish while Cpl. Harber had her detained on the traffic stop,” Johnson said in his probable cause statement.
“The child also said that Miss Price told them she was going to go to prison if she was caught.”
The child reportedly told investigators that “after the police stopped chasing them, Price attempted to burn the vehicle.” The child also said Price told him she had been “stuck” in the vehicle and was pulled from the mud by a man and woman.
On July 19, investigators interviewed the man and woman, who said Price had contacted them by phone on July 14 and told them her vehicle was stuck and she needed their help to pull it out.
The man and woman said they went to an area at the end of Mark Twain National Forest Service Road 4940 in Ripley County. They reportedly found the vehicle in a creek bed at the end of the road.
Johnson said investigators went to the location where the vehicle had been stuck and searched the area.
“During the search, the body of Bruce Ehrenberg was located,” Johnson said.
The location of the body was approximately 300 yards from where the vehicle had become stuck.
“The body was in a severe state of decomposition,” Johnson said. “An autopsy was conducted and it was concluded by the attending pathologist that manner of death for Mr. Ehrenberg was homicide.”
All items of evidence were submitted to the Missouri State Highway Patrol Crime Lab. A section of the headliner to the Suburban, fingernail clippings from Price and a bottle of purple fingernail polish (recovered from the Suburban) were among the items submitted.
“Analysts were able to determine that the purple fingernail polish recovered from the Suburban had the same physical properties and chemical composition as the purple paint used to try and conceal the blood on the headliner as well as the purple paint on Miss Price’s fingernail clippings.”
Analysts also were able to develop a DNA profile on the blood which was on the headliner, Johnson said in his probable cause statement. The analyst reported the blood located on the headliner was “5.336 billion” times more likely to be Mr. Ehrenberg’s than not.
According to the probable cause statement, two cellmates of Price’s also were interviewed on Aug. 2. One stated that Price told her that “I killed somebody” while a second said Price admitted that “she and a boyfriend had disposed of Ehrenberg’s body.”
Charges filed Monday against Price in Ripley County Circuit Court also included abandonment of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, first-degree endangering the welfare of a child (five counts) and felony resisting arrest.
Price was scheduled to appear for arraignment Wednesday at the courthouse in Doniphan. She has been ordered held without bond.
Price also is scheduled to appear March 4 for plea or trial setting on 24 charges related to the pursuit on July 15.
She also is facing 16 charges in Oregon County including parental kidnapping, child neglect and first-degree endangering a child.