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IMPD: Man reports body days after strangling girlfriend

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Detectives in Indianapolis have made an arrest for a homicide on the northwest side of the city last week.

According to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, shortly before 11 a.m. Friday police received an anonymous 911 call about a body in the back bedroom of a home in the 2600 block of Putters Lane.

Officers arrived and found 55-year-old Ardelle Stemmer dead. Investigators responded to look into the circumstances surrounding her suspicious death, police said.

Investigators learned Stemmer lived in the home with her boyfriend, 62-year-old James Edwards. Police say Edwards wasn’t there to speak with investigators and Stemmer’s vehicle was missing.

Around 3 p.m. that day, an IMPD officer found the vehicle on North Arsenal Avenue but Edwards wasn’t there. The officer found him nearby, under a picnic shelter, as heavy rains were moving through the area.

Investigators believe Edwards and Stemmer had an argument on Tuesday July 14 and Edwards strangled Stemmer. After realizing her body hadn’t been discovered, police say Edwards used Stemmer’s cell phone to make the anonymous 911 call, which is when police found her.

Edwards was arrested on a preliminary charge of murder.