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Body of missing East Deer Twp. woman found; Husband facing homicide charge

EAST DEER TOWNSHIP, Pa. — The body of a missing woman from East Deer Township was found Saturday morning in Plum Borough, and her husband is facing charges in connection with her death, according to Allegheny County police.

Jill Clark, 50, was reported missing on Tuesday by her co-workers at the post office when she did not show up for work.

County detectives said Clark's husband, Tom Clark, was the last person to see her between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. Tuesday.

Police said the couple argued inside their Ninth Avenue home and that Jill Clark walked off, leaving her car and everything else behind. However, it was Jill Clark's concerned co-workers at the post office who called police to report her missing, not Tom Clark, police said.

Tom Clark told Channel 11’s Jodine Costanzo on Friday that he was distraught over his wife's disappearance and was putting up posters in the hopes that someone would find her. He also said that he hired an attorney.

Late Friday afternoon, detectives and forensic investigators executed a search warrant at the couple’s home looking for clues.

While searching for the missing woman in Deer Lakes Park Friday evening, police said they spotted Tom Clark’s truck in the parking lot.

Police said Tom Clark was covered in blood when they found him. Allegheny County Police Lt. Andrew Schurman said  he had apparently tried to take his own life, cutting his wrists and ingesting 30 stamp bags of heroin.

Tom Clark was handcuffed at the scene and taken into police custody for further questioning.

After police found Tom Clark in the park, he told them that he confronted his wife about an affair she had with a co-worker, which had caused problems for the couple, police wrote in a police complaint.

Tom Clark said that he believed that the affair had ended, but had recently discovered it was still ongoing. During the confrontation, police wrote, Tom Clark said his wife “shoved and slapped him, insulted him, humiliated him,” and he struck her with the floor jack.

Tom Clark told police he wrapped his wife's remains in plastic and dumped the body in brush off a road near the Plum police station. He returned the next day, but could not bring himself to bury her, so he removed the plastic, tape and her clothing and disposed of the evidence in various nearby locations.

With the information Clark gave them, investigators found Jill Clark's remains.

At around 10:40 p.m. on Friday, detectives from the Allegheny County Police Homicide Unit said they found the Dodge van associated with the Clarks in New Kensington. Tom Clark had told police that he had loaned the vehicle to a man in exchange for illegal narcotics.

Jill Clark’s body was discovered several hours later around 7:10 a.m. on Saturday near a gas line utility road in Plum Borough, police said.

According to authorities, Jill Clark appeared to have been beaten to death. Her body was removed and transported to the Medical Examiner’s Office, where an autopsy will be performed to determine the cause and manner of her death.

Police said Tom Clark will be charged with homicide, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence.

He is being lodged at the Allegheny County Jail, awaiting arraignment.

Channel 11’s news exchange partner’s at TribLIVE contributed to this article.