21-year-old woman's body found in bag in Missouri ditch

BUCHANAN COUNTY, Mo. (WDAF) -- Officials have identified the body of a woman who was found in a bag Tuesday in a rural Missouri ditch.

The body of Ariel Anne-Rae Starcher, 21, was found along Vincent Road in Buchanan County. Starcher is from Independence, Missouri.

A Missouri Department of Transportation worker found the bag Tuesday and called 911.

"I've worked numerous death investigations, numerous homicides, and every single one is unique,” Major Thomas Cates said in a previous report. “Every single one of them, at the beginning, you scratch your head thinking, ‘Oh this is really tricky,' and then certain facts start falling into place.”

The Sheriff's Department has classified the case as a homicide investigation.

The sheriff's office asks anyone with information regarding Arial Starcher, her known friends or associates, or areas Arial is known to frequent to contact the Investigations Division at 816-236-8845 or 816-238-TIPS (8477).