Texas Man Dismembered and Burned Body of College Student Days After Being Released From Jail

Just days after being released from jail, a Texas man dismembered and burned a college student's body after meeting her at a bar.

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Complex Original

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A 30-year-old man who was released from jail earlier this month has been charged with capital murder in Grapevine, Texas after the body of a 24-year-old female college student was found dismembered and burned in a park. It's a crime that Grapevine police Sgt. Robert Eberling has called "the worst case scenario" for the parents of daughters.

The Dallas Morning News reports that Charles Dean Bryant, who was arrested in early September for criminal trespassing and stalking, met Texas Woman's University student Jacqueline Vandagriff—possibly for the first time—at a bar on Sept. 13. The last time Vandagriff was seen alive was when video captured her leaving the bar with Bryant at around 11 p.m. The next morning, Vandagriff's body was reportedly found dismembered and burned in a park inside of a blue plastic kiddie pool owned by Bryant.

Just days before he met and allegedly killed Vandagriff, Bryant was released from the Denton County Jail on Sept. 9 after being arrested on the criminal trespassing and stalking charges.

Hours before Vandagriff met Bryant, she tweeted about giving up on a dating app and going to the bar:

Mysteriously, a sketchy tweet was sent out days later from Vandagriff's account—on the same day of her autopsy:

Authorities are aware of the tweet and are looking into it, but they don't have an explanation for it yet.

It's unclear how well Bryant and Vandagriff knew each other, but, according to WFAA, Sgt. Eberling said police are investigating it. "Right now, as it stands, the information we're gathering indicates they’d met possibly that night," he said. "Anyone's who's a father, like I am, that has a daughter, this is the nightmare scenario you don't ever want to face."

Previously, Bryant had also been arrested for forgery in 2010 and marijuana possession in 2013, according to The Dallas Morning News. Bryant is currently being held on $1 million bond.

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