Madeline Kingsbury's ex-partner Adam Fravel arrested, body found

WINONA, Minn. (FOX 9) - Authorities in Winona are holding a press conference on the case at 1 p.m. Watch live in the player above.

The ex-partner of Madeline Kingsbury and the father of her children has been arrested on a murder charge as police say they have found a body.

Adam Fravel was booked into Winona County Jail just after 7 p.m. Wednesday, hours after human remains were found in some brush off Highway 43 Wednesday afternoon by a Fillmore County deputy.

The Winona County Police Department says the body was discovered using "information generated during the Madeline Kingsbury investigation."

"We are asking the community to respect the family’s privacy at this time and not to speculate on the case until further information is made available. We will share an update tomorrow once we have more information confirmed," a statement from the Winona Police Department reads.

Just this week, Fravel was in court fighting to gain custody of the two children he had with Kingsbury.

Kingsbury has been missing since March 31 and police say Fravel was the last person to see her alive. On the day she went missing, Kingsbury and Fravel dropped her children off at daycare and returned home. Fravel says he left the home around 10 a.m. in a dark van and when he came back Kingsbury was gone. Police said her jacket and keys had been left behind.

Police say a van similar to Madeline Kingsbury's van was driven on County Road 12 and Highway 43 in Winona County and southbound on Highway 43 into Fillmore County. Volunteers and law enforcement agencies conducted widespread searches along that route in the days after Kingsbury's disappearance. Search crews also combed the Root River and Mississippi River near Winona in recent weeks. But, as of the last check, the searches have turned up nothing,