US soldier, 21, charged with shooting dead newlywed wife and stashing her body in a drain: distraught mother says he helped search for her before police found ‘their mattress soaked in blood’

A US soldier has been accused of shooting his newlywed wife and hiding her body in a drain near their home in Anchorage, Alaska.

Zarrius Hildabrand, 21, was charged with first degree murder and tampering with evidence after allegedly murdering his wife Saria Hildabrand, also 21. She died from a single bullet to her left temple.

The young couple had met last summer during basic training and married in December 2022. Saria was a combat medic for the Alaska National Guard — and six months ago she moved from Utah to Alaska to be with her new husband.

Hildabrand is now being held on $500,000 bond after investigators found a blood-soaked mattress in their home – and they found her dead body in a drain.

He is a gun crew member assigned to the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team.

The young couple had met last summer during basic training and married in December 2022. Saria was a combat medic for the Alaska National Guard — and six months ago she moved from Utah to Alaska to be with her new husband.

Saria was remembered as a “wonderful young woman” – and her mother Meredith Barney said her husband “lied” and “walked around for hours” looking for Saria “knowing she was dead.”

She told Anchorage Daily News, “He walked around with me for hours looking for my daughter knowing she was dead. He lied to me several times and tried to play it off like he was a concerned husband.”

Neighbors are said to have heard a gunshot at 2:45 am on Sunday, August 6 – just 45 minutes after the couple returned home from celebrating the husband’s birthday.

Hildabrand told detectives that his wife walked to work the next morning and left her phone at home. He stayed home all day and only realized she was missing when he went to pick her up at 7:00 PM. But her friends say she didn’t plan to work that day.

At 10:45 a.m. on Sunday, a text was sent from her phone to co-workers saying she was canceling work. Hildabrand denies that he sent a text message.

The incident report, dug up by Law and crime, read: ‘Zarrius said he had been looking for Saria ever since. Zarrius said he’d been to all the friends, called Saria’s parents, called all the hospitals and the prison.’

The man did not contact the police until 36 hours after Saria was last seen.

When police questioned Hildabrand on Tuesday, they found two handguns on the kitchen table — one was fully loaded and another was missing a single bullet.

The bed in their house was covered in a mattress protector with a pack of new sheets nearby – and the man refused to let the police investigate.

He told them there were “embarrassing” objects “used for sex” under the bed, so he didn’t want to show them, the document said.

Neighbors are said to have heard a gunshot at 2:45 am on Sunday, August 6 – just 45 minutes after the couple returned home from celebrating the man’s birthday. Saria’s dead body was found in the storm drain thanks to drone footage of the area taken during the investigation

Police noted that on Aug. 6, Hildabrand purchased a jar of marinara sauce, a set of branded sheets found in the apartment, a mattress cover, a 96-gallon garbage can, hydrogen peroxide, and an empty spray bottle.

The complaint said that when detectives finally executed a search warrant, they found the mattress “saturated with human blood” – which had soaked through the carpet.

They said cleanup attempts were made after finding blood in the bathtub and floors. The garbage can that Hildabrand bought was found on a path near their apartment.

And before long, Saria’s dead body was found in the storm drain thanks to drone footage of the area captured during the investigation.

Maria Edwards, the couple’s neighbor, told KTUU, “It was Sunday, our fire alarms kept going off this week and we had been talking about the fire alarm system. But he showed me no inclination that something might be wrong. So that was a surprise.’

The young woman’s family wrote in a Facebook statement Saturday: “Saria Barney was a wonderful young woman. No one could have imagined this would happen to her.

“We are grateful to the public for spreading Saria’s name online and on the ground.

“Saria is a beloved daughter and stepdaughter. She is a beloved sister. She is a shining light to her grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles.

Police noted that Hildabrand purchased a jar of marinara sauce, a set of branded sheets found in the apartment, a mattress cover, a 96-gallon garbage can, hydrogen peroxide, and an empty spray bottle. August 6

“Saria is loved by a large extended family and a network of friends in many cities and states. Saria is a sincere, caring woman who is independent, courageous and courageous.

“She was a good student in training as a combat medic and was preparing for her future.”

The GoFundMe was set up to cover funeral expenses and return Saria’s remains to Utah.

The latest update read: “On the morning of August 11, Saria’s family was notified by the Anchorage Police Department that they had found and identified her remains. As of now, the case has been upgraded to an open murder investigation.

“With this update comes great sadness to think that Saria has disappeared from our lives. However, there is some relief knowing she has been found.

“We appreciate the diligent efforts of local law enforcement and CSI to bring this search to a successful conclusion. We are grateful for their subsequent work in solving this case to discover what happened.

“We would also like to thank the Army Criminal Investigation Department for supporting our family during these difficult times. Thank you to everyone who gave their support, be it financially, through prayer and well wishes, or by going out of the house to help with the search.

Unfortunately, this process is not over yet. We will now move on to assisting the police, planning the funeral service and transporting her remains back to Utah. No funeral plans have been made, but we will post updates on the Facebook page.”