MOORHEAD — Prosecutors have filed search warrants on several social media accounts for people tied to the murder of 19-year-old Dystynee Avery. This includes suspects arrested in the case, and an ex-boyfriend not currently listed as a suspect.
Police are accusing Ethan Broad of killing Avery, dismembering her body in his garage and throwing her body parts in a dumpster. Avery's remains were later found in the Clay County landfill.
WDAY News interviewed Joshua Clabough, one of Avery's ex boyfriends, in late April. He spoke with the news team about leaving Fargo-Moorhead for his Georgia hometown within days after Avery's disappearance.
Clabough told WDAY News he did not know Avery was murdered, and was trying to start a new life down south.
Newly released court documents go over an interview with Clabough conducted by a Georgia Bureau of Investigation special agent. In it, Clabough said he met with Andrea Payne before leaving Fargo-Moorhead, and that Payne told him Broad killed Avery. Clabough then told the agent he had conversations with Payne on Facebook messenger about Avery's death.
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Forum reporter April Baumgarten reached out to Clabough and asked him why he told WDAY reporters he did not know about Avery's murder. Clabough said at the time, he did not believe what Payne told him.
The new court documents also go over a different body. Broad told police, in March, David Erno showed him a body of another person who was killed in Moorhead. Erno is now in jail, accused of helping hide evidence in Avery's murder. Police did find blood where Broad claimed the body was. The documents said this specific part of the investigation is vague. No missing person in the area had been reported. Erno reportedly spoke about losing someone close to him.
Search warrants are being filed for social media accounts belonging to all four of the suspects in jail, as well as those of Dystynee Avery and Joshua Clabough. This includes Facebook profiles, Google accounts and iCloud accounts. Some of the people listed show they have upwards of seven different Facebook profiles.
