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Ex-husband main suspect in Plano murder
Josh Hixson / Staff Photo
Park at Fox Trail Apartment tenant Syed Azeem identified blood leading from Jennifer McCallum’s apartment Friday afternoon. McCallum’s apartment, No. 2003, is pictured in the background. She was still missing Friday night, according to police.
By Josh Hixson, Staff Writer
Police were searching for the body of Plano nurse Jennifer McCallum Friday night. Her ex-husband has been arrested and charged with her murder.
Officers responded to a welfare call for McCallum at about 3:15 p.m. Thursday after she missed an appointment, police said.
Police found evidence at McCallum’s apartment No. 2003 — located in the Park at Fox Trail Apartments in the 6300 block of Roundrock Trail — that led them to believe she had been murdered, said Officer Rick McDonald, a spokesperson for the Plano Police Department.
Police officials said Friday they could neither confirm nor deny the presence of blood at the crime scene.
Syed Azeem, a resident of No. 2002 at the Park at Fox Trail Apartments — located a floor below McCallum’s apartment — said when he got home from school Thursday the stairs leading to McCallum’s apartment were covered in blood.
“The whole stairs were covered in blood. They were dripping wet with it. It was horrific,” Azeem said. “This is a good neighborhood. Things like this don’t happen around here.”
Police arrested Curtis Lee Armstrong, 37, of Dayton, Texas, at about 9:13 p.m. Thursday in the 1800 block of Coit Road and charged him with murder. Armstrong, who is McCallum’s ex-husband and an engineer with Union Pacific, was being held at Plano City Jail on $500,000 bail.
McDonald said a custody battle over their daughter could have been Armstrong’s motive for allegedly murdering his ex-wife.
“It could be a custody battle. But we just don’t know,” McDonald said. “Her daughter was staying with her at the apartment, but she wasn’t there during the crime. We believe the daughter was at school when the crime occurred.”
Court records from Collin County’s 380th District Court show Armstrong was involved in custody hearings for his daughter Katherine L. Armstrong, from Dec. 7, 2005 until June 30, 2006.
McCallum, a nurse at Richardson Regional Medical Center, had recently been promoted to lead the medical surgical nurse department, according to Monica Vehige, executive director of marketing at Richardson Regional Medical Center.
Vehige said McCallum was last seen by co-workers at the hospital 7 a.m. Thursday morning when she ended her 12 hour shift.
“Everyone who worked with her is pretty devastated,” Vehige said. “There were never any incidents at the hospital.”
Flyers attached to resident’s doorknobs Friday at the Park at Fox Trail Apartments stated a woman living in the apartment complex was missing and police had been notified.
Police are pressuring Armstrong to give them a clue to the whereabouts of McCallum’s body, McDonald said.
“We hope he leads us to the body. It’s hard to have any closure without a body,” McDonald said.
After gathering evidence at the apartment complex and talking with McCallum’s family members, police believe McCallum is their prime suspect, McDonald said.
“Leads we gained at the scene led detectives to (Armstrong),” McDonald said. “There was evidence found in his truck at the time of the arrest that directly connected him to the crime scene.”
Police had yet to find a murder weapon Friday, McDonald said.
Helicopters hovered over the city Friday using thermal imaging to search for McCallum in parks, creeks and wooded areas and aid officers already on foot, McDonald said.
McCallum had not been found as of Friday evening, police said.
Contact Josh Hixson at jhixson@acnpapers.com.
The following are comments from the readers.
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
Debbie Davis wrote on May 5, 2007 7:26 PM:
" Have anyone thought about looking in storage areas?? where people store furniture, cars etc., "
S. Schmidt wrote on May 7, 2007 1:14 PM:
" My heart goes out to Jennifer McCallum's daughter and family; it brings home to all of us how careful we need to be when we decide to trust someone we think cares for us and loves us.
There but for the grace of God so far, go I.
I will keep the Jennifer McCallum family in my prayers. "
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