MOSES LAKE, Wash. — Three days after a Moses Lake couple was reported missing, an arrest warrant has been issued for the husband after a body presumed to be his wife's was found in Lincoln County.
The body believed to be 53-year-old Theresa Bergman was found in rural Lincoln County. Her husband, 54-year-old Charles Bergman, is still unaccounted for and is now wanted for first-degree murder.
Court documents suggest Charles Bergman may have murdered his wife after she returned home from New York, where she was visiting an old boyfriend.
Charles and Theresa Bergman were reported missing by the Grant County Sheriff's Office (GCSO) on Sept. 20. The next day, Lincoln County Sheriff's Office (LCSO) deputies received video from the Spokane International Airport showing the couple leaving the airport together at approximately 12:40 a.m. on Sept. 18.
Deputies were able to track the couple's cell phones and found they were last located in a remote area of Lincoln County on Sept. 18.
At approximately 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, a body believed to be Theresa Bergman's was found by a farmer working in the area of Stolp Road. She was examined by police, who noticed "trauma to the rear side of her head." It appeared she was struck by a "thin, hard object," according to court documents.
LSCO deputies spoke to GCSO as part of their investigation. During their conversation, deputies found video of Charles Bergman buying a small metal shovel at a Grant County Walmart on Sept. 17, one day before he picked his wife up from the Spokane airport. A family member later told police that their online Walmart account also showed Charles Bergman purchased some type of rope and took out a $500 cash advance from his credit card prior to picking up Theresa Bergman.
Grant County detectives said the injury on Theresa Bergman's head is consistent with a shovel strike.
A GCSO deputy spoke with the Bergman's daughter on Sept. 19. According to documents, she told detectives that her parents were married for approximately 36 years and that her mother had recently asked Charles Bergman for a separation. Their daughter told detectives her father "became very depressed and contemplated suicide since Theresa's request to separate."
On Sept. 10, court documents state Theresa Bergman flew to New York to visit an old boyfriend. The Bergmans' daughter told police her mother was set to return on Sept. 17. Theresa Bergman reportedly drove to Harrington and spent the night with her son on Sept. 9. The next morning, her son drove her to the Spokane airport.
The couple's son was supposed to pick Theresa Bergman up from the airport on Sept. 17, but the family later decided that Charles Bergman would pick her up. Once Theresa Bergman was picked up from the airport, she and her husband were supposed to go back to their son's house in Harrington so she could pick up her car.
The couple's daughter told police she received a text from her mother on Sept. 18 stating she arrived at the airport. According to the couple's daughter, that was the last time she heard from her mother. The couple also never went to their son's house to retrieve Theresa Bergman's car.
The search is still on for Charles Bergman, who was last known to be driving a silver 2013 Chevrolet Impala, Washington license BLU5395. Anyone with information regarding his whereabouts is encouraged to contact the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office at (509) 725-3501 or dial 911.
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