Suspect arrested after TWU student's body found dismembered

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Police say a Texas Woman's University student whose body was found burned and dismembered at a Grapevine park may have met her suspected killer at a bar the night before her body was found.

Police identified the body found last Wednesday morning at Acorn Woods Park as 24-year-old Jacqueline Vandagriff of Frisco.

Police say Vandagriff was last seen on surveillance video leaving a Denton bar with 30-year-old Charles Dean Bryant last Tuesday night around 11 p.m.

Police and the FBI searched Bryant’s home in Haslet on Sunday and found items in a trash can that connected him to the crime.

One of Bryant’s acquaintances told FOX 4 he hung out with him the day before and the day after Vandagriff was murdered. He didn’t want his face shown but says Bryant's arrest leaves him baffled.

“He's never one you would picture to have a violent bone in his body,” he said. “He works as a personal trainer and a bartender and always had that personality of that super social super talk to anybody, go to the bar, talk to any girl, pick up any girl, whatever."

Bryant worked as a bartender at Urban Cowboy Saloon, a gay bar in Fort Worth. He was fired after he didn't show up for work on Sunday.

Grapevine Police and the FBI, dressed in hazmat suits, searched for evidence at Bryan’s home. Police confirmed to FOX 4 they found Vandagriff's purse in a trash can in front of his house.

"Bryant is charged with a charge of capital murder, which is a capital felony,” said Grapevine Police Sgt. Robert Eberling.

Investigators say Bryant was seen on unreleased surveillance video leaving the Denton bar with Vandagriff. According to cell phone records, her cell pinged towers in Denton, Argyle and near Bryant's home in Haslet.

Grapevine police responded to reports of a fire Wednesday morning in a small wooded area near Lake Grapevine.

"After the fire was extinguished, a dismembered, burned body was located,” said Eberling.

Vandagriff was a junior at Texas Women's University, studying to be a nutritionist. She lived in an apartment near the campus.

Police say they're looking closely into a tweet on Vandagriff’s Twitter page that said, “Never knew I could feel like this.” It's dated September 15, the day after she was killed.

Police are also looking at Bryant's Facebook page and a post about a run he took three days before the murder. It was a route that would have taken him right by the location the body was found.

Bryant was also arrested twice by University of North Texas police on September 6 and 7, one week before the murder. Those arrests were for criminal trespass and stalking.

So far, Grapevine police say Bryant’s been cooperative in answering questions about the murder.

"Anyone who is a father like I am that has a daughter, this is the nightmare scenario that you won't ever face,” said Eberling.

“Jacqueline exemplified the spirit of learning and service that is the hallmark of our TWU community,” wrote TWU’s Vice President for Student Life Monica Mendez-Grant. “She lived her life with a desire to serve others through her interest in nutrition.”

Police do not believe Bryant had any accomplices. He’s being held on a $1 million bond.

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