Kelly Cochran, a 33-year-old resident of Merrillville, Indiana, has been arrested for murder in connection with the disappearance of a Michigan man in 2014. She was extradited to Michigan this past week to face charges.
Police records show that Cochran was arrested in Wingo, Kentucky by U.S. Marshals and Kentucky State Police. The warrant issued for her arrest was for homicide, concealing a death, and conspiracy to mutilate a dead body.
The man that Cochran is accused of murdering is 53-year-old Christopher Karl Regan, a resident of Iron County in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Regan was last seen in October of 2014. He is said to have gone missing in Iron River, which is where police found his 2013 Hyundai abandoned in a park-and-ride, just a few days later.
Investigation Into Disappearance Leads To Arrest
According to Laura Frizzo, the Iron River Police Chief, a search conducted in 2015 at a park in Caspian, a community in Iron County, revealed “items of significance,” although the exact nature of the items in question has not been made public. This lead to further investigation by police. They revealed in October that they had identified a “person of interest” in the case, and had begun cooperating with the FBI in their investigation.
In March of 2015, Cochran is said to have fled her home in Michigan and moved to Hobart in Indiana. Iron River Police and Hobart Police teamed up to investigate. But on April 28th of 2015, Cochran is said to have fled again, this time leaving Indiana and heading for Kentucky, where police finally located her in Wingo.
According to Iron River Police, the day Cochran was discovered in Wingo, a warrant for her arrest was obtained and police took her into custody. She is currently being held in the Iron County, Michigan Jail on a $5 million bail bond. At her arraignment, Cochran foolishly rejected legal counsel telling the court that she intended to represent herself in court.
In addition to these charges, Cochran is also currently under investigation by authorities in Lake County, Illinois, in connection with the death of her husband, Jason Cochran. In a motion filed by prosecuting attorney Melissa Powell, it states that Cochran has admitted a ‘level of participation’ in Regan’s death along with allegations that she has claimed responsibility for the death of several other individuals as well.