***UPDATED ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3 AT 11:30 A.M.***

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – A Richmond County warrant obtained by NewsChannel 6 states that Sandra Leigh Dales, just after midnight on November 23, 2019, committed felony murder. It states that she caused the death of an unknown man, believed to be Eddie Cruey, by using a horseshoe stake. It also states the two lived in the same home on the 3000 block of Jeanne Road.

Another warrant states that Dales, on the same date, time and location, concealed the death and body of Cruey.

Augusta, Ga. (WJBF) – Sandra Leigh Dales, 55, is in jail today after being booked under two felony charges: Murder and concealing the death of another.

Dales’s residence along the 3000 block of Jeanne Road, off of Lumpkin Road, was the targeted location of a search warrant served yesterday, Sat., Feb. 1, 2020. As a result of that search, human remains were found in the backyard, near the garage, in a shallow hole in the ground. They were later confirmed to be the remains of an adult male.

The remains have been transported to the State Crime lab for identification.

Dales, the wife of Edward Cruey, known as “Eddie,” has been the focus of intense social scrutiny after she failed to report the disappearance of her husband in mid-November.

The first incident report citing Cruey’s disappearance was not created until Dec. 7th, 2019, when his family traveled to Augusta from Cedar Bluff, Virginia, to file a missing person’s complaint. The family’s last text from Cruey was on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2019, at 9 a.m., in the days leading up to Thanksgiving.

Since that last message, Cruey’s family communicated only with Dales, who told them that Cruey had left their home in the 3000 block of Jeanne Road the day before Thanksgiving. According to their conversation with Dales, as reported to an investigator, Cruey left the home with a sleeping bag, pair of jeans and told her he did not walk to talk to anyone, including family members.

At that point in filing the missing person’s report, the Cruey family noted that Edward had been the victim of simple battery at the hands of Dales in late July 2019, when Dales was accused of attacking with a wooden-handled claw handle.

The Cruey family told the investigating deputy that, because of the history of family violence and length of time without any contact from Cruey, they were afraid for his safety.

During the commission of yesterday’s search warrant, it had been 56 days since the Cruey family filed their missing person’s report.