Jacquelyn Elizabeth Mitchell

Prosecutors charged a man with murder Tuesday after a St. Charles woman who had been missing for nearly a week was found dead inside his Maryland Heights apartment. Jacquelyn “Jacque” Elizabeth Mitchell, 39, was last seen March 14 leaving Maggie O’Brien’s in Sunset Hills, where she stopped after work. Police said she texted 49-year-old Joseph John Dejoie V and went to his Maryland Heights apartment. She arrived around midnight and was killed sometime after, police said. Dejoie was charged with second-degree murder, tampering with evidence and abandonment of a corpse in Mitchell’s death. In 2024, he was sentenced to life in prison in the case. Mitchell and Dejoie knew each other socially, police said, but they did not describe their relationship further. Dejoie was spotted on security footage driving Mitchell’s car after her death, police said. Dejoie was arrested soon after Mitchell’s body was found. Maryland Heights police Chief Bill Carson said Mitchell had been dead inside the apartment, in the 2200 block of Palestra Drive, for about six days when police found her body Monday night. Police did not say how Mitchell was killed, but Dejoie took responsibility for her death, according to court documents. He described wiping down her body and her vehicle to remove evidence. Mitchell’s family reported her missing to St. Charles police on Thursday and detectives determined through surveillance footage that she was alone when she left the pub on Lindbergh Boulevard. On Sunday, Carson said St. Charles detectives found her car abandoned in an apartment complex parking lot on Schulte Hill Drive in Maryland Heights. “Our detectives paired up with (St. Charles) detectives, and we did a lot of things to try to trace the victim’s path from when she left Maggie O’Brien’s,” Carson said. “… We actually got a pretty significant break in this case when we were able to obtain surveillance video of a man driving Jacque’s car after she had disappeared.” St. Charles police Chief Ray Juengst said the real-time crime center helped them locate the footage. Police identified Dejoie, Carson said, and that led them to the apartment, where police found Mitchell dead inside Dejoie’s bedroom Monday night. “My heart goes out to her entire family,” Carson said. “I know that this is heartbreaking for them.” Juengst said this case was the result of “good, old-fashioned hard work” and praised the teamwork between the two departments. He said he did not believe there were more victims in the case.