Arkansas woman confesses 18 years later: Missing mother, child were murdered by my husband
A woman confessed to authorities that an Arkansas mother and her 4-year-old son missing for almost 20 years were murdered by her husband, according to reports.
Earlier this month, Barbara Krusen told the FBI her late husband Clarence "had done away with both Angela Mack Cox and Thomas Michael Rettew (Mikey) by killing them and destroying their bodies in a furnace that they had attached to their farmhouse."
Authorities believe the murders happened at the Krusen farm in Alton, Missouri, in December of 2002.
"She stated when they moved from the farmhouse, he told her the furnace had to go because of what it had been used for," Fulton County Sheriff Al Roork said.
Clarence Krusen was shot and killed in Laredo, Texas, on Feb. 17, 2012.
The boy was reported missing on Sept. 1, 2002 by his father, Tommy Rettew. The mother of the missing mom filed a missing persons’ report with the Poteau, Oklahoma, Police Department on May 25, 2004, reporting she last spoke to her daughter on Dec. 11, 2002.
"She said she seemed herself, she was happy, and had a sense of humor," the report stated. "She told her she was going to be leaving (Chowchilla, California) to go pick up Mikey from Clarence Krusen in Alton."
Barbara Krusen told authorities in October of 2020 that she met Angela in the fall of 2002 while she was working on their farm.
She also said the Krusen family wanted to adopt the boy.
"She stated that an attorney had drawn up the papers, and she and Clarence signed them," the report stated.
But then Angela changed her mind.
"Barbara stated that it angered both her and Clarence," the report stated. "She told Angela she needed to come back and pick up Mikey. That she didn’t want to just be a babysitter."
Barbara Krusen said the murders happened after the mom came to pick up the boy.
Clarence Krusen was indicted in 2004 on a firearms violation and spent eight years in federal prison.
The case was closed on April 7.