BELLEVUE, IA — Angela Prichard spoke her estranged husband’s name moments before he fatally shot her at a dog kennel where she worked, creating crucial evidence that helped investigators track down her killer in October 2022.
The 55-year-old kennel owner’s final 911 call captured her pleading with Christopher Prichard to leave the Mississippi Ridge Boarding Kennels before a gunshot ended her life. Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation agents say the recording became pivotal evidence in solving Bellevue’s first homicide in nearly a decade, leading to Prichard’s eventual capture after a 12-hour manhunt through northeastern Iowa wilderness.
Security footage revealed Prichard entered the kennels around 4 a.m. on October 8, 2022, and waited nearly four hours for his wife to arrive for work. Angela Prichard pulled into the kennel parking lot at 7:34 a.m., gathering her belongings before walking inside. Less than six minutes later, at 7:39 and 43 seconds, surveillance audio captured a single gunshot. Special Agent Dustin Henningsen told CBS News that investigators believe Prichard shot his wife at close range in the kennel’s washroom, where she bathed the dogs. “It was a very violent scene,” Henningsen said, describing how Angela was found face down with a significant gunshot wound to the chest.
The 911 call provided investigators with their first breakthrough in identifying the killer. “Essentially, you’re listening to the end of her life on the 911 call,” Henningsen explained. The recording captured Angela saying “Please get out of here” and “Chris!” before the fatal gunshot, followed by a faint male voice saying an expletive. Special Agent Ryan Kedley called it “a pivotal piece of evidence in the opening stages of the investigation.” Two minutes after the gunshot, security cameras from a neighboring property showed a man believed to be Christopher Prichard leaving the kennel area and walking toward a fence line that bordered thick woods locals call “The Wilderness.”
Angela Prichard had been trying to leave her husband for months before her death, according to her sister Wendy Budde, who immediately suspected Christopher when she learned of the killing. The couple married in March 2019 after nearly two years of dating, but their relationship deteriorated after Prichard lost his job and was charged with first-degree theft for allegedly stealing $36,000 worth of supplies from his employer. Budde said Prichard began drinking heavily and using methamphetamine, creating escalating tension that exploded on April 18, 2022, when he struck Angela. Police arrested Prichard for domestic assault after responding to the family’s call, with bodycam footage showing Angela crying and visibly shaking with a mark on her face. Despite obtaining a temporary no-contact order, Angela later withdrew it, hoping to save their marriage.
The manhunt for Christopher Prichard involved hundreds of officers from six law enforcement agencies, using canines, aircraft, and drones to search the rugged terrain surrounding Bellevue. Authorities went house to house and barn to barn, warning residents that an armed fugitive was on the run. After 12 hours, Prichard appeared at the home of former friends Jeff Junk and Kim Klein around 8:15 p.m., carrying a shotgun and telling them he had been running from police all day. “Jeff goes, you need to hand that gun to me, and he did,” Klein recalled. The couple played along while finding a way to safely contact authorities, leading to Prichard’s arrest that night.
Angela Prichard’s sons, Joshua Close and CJ Hancock, remembered their mother as devoted to her two children and six grandchildren, as well as her five Huskies and the animals at her kennel. “She was beautiful inside and out,” Hancock said. “She liked to make everybody happy, especially her family.” Her sister Wendy Budde had initially trusted Christopher Prichard completely when he began dating Angela, describing him as “nice, friendly, sincere, a hard worker.” The transformation that followed his job loss and criminal charges devastated the family, with Budde discovering that Angela had found tracking devices in her car and hidden cameras in their home as Prichard’s behavior became increasingly controlling.
Christopher Prichard now faces murder charges in connection with his wife’s death. The case highlighted gaps in domestic violence protection, as Angela had repeatedly sought help from law enforcement before her killing. Investigators say the combination of the 911 recording, security footage, and witness testimony provided overwhelming evidence against Prichard, whose intimate knowledge of the kennel and surrounding wilderness initially helped him evade capture but ultimately could not prevent his arrest.
