Man arrested after dismembered remains are found, believed to be his wife’s

Richfield police have arrested a man after investigators turned up what they believe to be his wife's dismembered remains.

Family members reported Melanie Layton Callison, 46, missing on Sept. 25, though her husband — Edward Callison — told relatives that she went to California, according to a police news release. But after weeks of investigating, detectives eventually found what they believe to be the woman's dismembered remains at a camp site elsewhere in the county, said Sevier County Sheriff Nathan Curtis.

"This is the type of thing that doesn't happen here," Curtis said. "Our condolences to the family."

On Thursday, detectives spoke to Edward Callison again, who "told detectives what had happened at the location of the crime scene," according to the release.

Edward Callison had given several inconsistent statements to Melanie Callison's family and Richfield investigators after she went missing, according to police.

"Everyone knew they were going camping," Curtis said. Investigators believe he killed her during that camping trip, but have not been able to determine a motive, the sheriff added.

The last person who saw Melanie Callison alive was her physician in Richfield, according to the release.

Edward Callison, 59, has been booked into Sevier County jail under suspicion of aggravated murder and desecration of a body. He has not been officially charged by prosecutors.

"I'm glad the detectives from Richfield City [stuck] stuck with it and kept working at it, [and we had help from] investigators from all the different counties around us," Curtis said. "… If we didn't have that type of cooperation, we wouldn't have gotten as far as we did."

mmcfall@sltrib.com

Twitter: @mikeypanda