Investigators pieced together vehicle records and activity at a rural property before finding the remains of Troy Tolton.
TECUMSEH, Okla. — An abandoned pickup, questions about when it reached an Oklahoma County road and the use of an excavator became key parts of an investigation that ultimately led authorities to the buried remains of missing Tecumseh man Troy Tolton.
Court records described in local reporting provide a clearer picture of how investigators moved from a missing-person case to a search of property connected to the 47-year-old. Tolton was last heard from July 31 and was reported missing by his daughter Aug. 13. Investigators later obtained a search warrant for property in Pottawatomie County, where human remains were recovered and later identified as Tolton.
According to the investigative affidavit, Agnes Crenshaw told authorities that Tolton left their home July 31 to pick up a trailer before helping a relative move. Investigators determined he never arrived to pick up the trailer or help with the move. Crenshaw lived with Tolton, and her sister, Monica Pacheco, also lived at the property, according to the affidavit.
Attention then turned to Tolton’s pickup. Oklahoma City police found the truck Aug. 15 near Southeast 104th Street and Peebly Road. It was parked along the roadway, locked and without its keys. Automated license-plate information examined by investigators indicated the truck had not been at that location eight days earlier and was detected there by Aug. 10.
That evidence gave investigators a narrower window in which the vehicle appeared to have been left at the roadside. The timing became significant because it came days after July 31, the date authorities had been told Tolton left home. Investigators continued comparing the vehicle evidence with accounts of Tolton’s disappearance.
The investigation later focused on the property where Tolton had lived. During the inquiry, investigators learned an excavator had been rented. Pacheco told investigators the equipment was used to dig a burn pit for tree limbs, according to the affidavit. Investigators obtained information connected to the excavator’s use as they developed evidence for the property search.
When authorities executed the warrant, they found disturbed soil and recovered human remains from the property. The remains were sent for examination and were later identified as Tolton. The Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office said investigators also collected other items that could have evidentiary value.
Crenshaw and Pacheco were taken into custody after the search. Authorities have said they face allegations related to unlawful removal of the dead and desecration of a human corpse. The accusations relate to the alleged treatment or movement of human remains and should not be read as a determination that either woman caused Tolton’s death.
The investigation is continuing as authorities work to establish a complete timeline between Tolton’s last known contact, the movement of his pickup and the burial of his remains. Officials have not publicly established a motive or released a complete account of Tolton’s death, leaving the circumstances of his final hours among the central unresolved questions in the case.
Author note: Last updated October 21, 2026.