<ul class="summary-list"><li>A grand jury indicted John Bassett on <keyword id="13542" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="murder" source="Orion">murder</keyword> <keyword id="12169286" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="charges" source="Orion">charges</keyword> in the death of <keyword id="12217425" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="desheena-kyle" source="Orion">Desheena Kyle</keyword>, <keyword id="11894211" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="police" source="Orion">police</keyword> said Thursday.</li><li>Kyle had been missing for three months before police found her body on September 28.</li></ul>The boyfriend of <a href="https://www.insider.com/police-find-body-missing-knoxville-tennessee-woman-desheena-kyle-2021-9">Desheena Kyle, a Knoxville, Tennessee, woman who was found dead</a> last month, has been indicted on murder charges, police announced Thursday.A grand jury indicted John Bassett on charges of first-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with evidence, according to a <a href="https://knoxvilletn.gov/blog/One.aspx?portalId=16394533&amp;postId=18060557&amp;portletAction=viewpostviewpost">news release from the Knoxville Police Department</a>. The Knoxville Medical Examiner's Office ruled Kyle's death a homicide, but has not yet determined a cause of death, according to the release.Bassett's attorney, David Skidmore, did not immediately respond Thursday to Insider's request for comment.Kyle's grandmother first reported her missing on June 28, after no one in her family had seen her for at least ten days.A Knoxville activist who helped organize searches for Kyle previously told Insider that <a href="https://www.insider.com/gabby-petito-case-instructive-for-desheena-kyle-search-activist-says-2021-10">community's perception of the police investigation into her disappearance was not good</a>. Fahd Wali said that national media coverage of Gabby Petito's disappearance helped galvanize the search for Kyle in Knoxville because it provided an example of how a police investigation was "supposed to go."Police began investigating Kyle's disappearance as a potential homicide on September 23, and <a href="https://www.insider.com/aunt-of-desheena-kyle-speaks-investigation-into-missing-womans-death-2021-10">named Bassett a person of interest in her disappearance</a> on the same day.<a href="https://www.insider.com/police-find-body-missing-knoxville-tennessee-woman-desheena-kyle-2021-9">Police then found Kyle's body</a> on September 28, at a home reportedly owned by one of Bassett's relatives.<div type="image" title="Mugshot of John Bassett" height="1432" width="1910" msid="86851681" hostid="261"></div>Bassett had been arrested in July on probation violation charges, and was subsequently hit with unrelated gun and drug charges while in custody, police have said.Police records also show that in 2014, Bassett had been arrested and <a href="https://www.insider.com/desheena-kyle-boyfriend-once-charged-with-assaulting-her-records-show-2021-10">charged with domestic assault against Kyle,</a> stemming from an incident in which he smashed her car window while she was inside. A judge later dismissed the charge.Kyle's aunt, Rita Thomas, told Insider her family is still reeling from their loss."While we are headed in the right direction to obtain justice for DeSheena the pain hasn't lessened," Thomas wrote in a text message. "She was a major piece of our close-knit family and we love her dearly. The charges appear just, but the bond amount does not."Police said Thursday that Bassett is being held in jail on a $500,000 bond. Michelle Mark contributed reporting.

Police say the boyfriend of Desheena Kyle, missing Tennessee woman found dead, has been indicted on murder charges

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="12217425" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="desheena-kyle" source="Orion">Desheena Kyle</keyword>'s family says Knoxville, <keyword id="11919824" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="tennessee" source="Orion">Tennessee</keyword>, <keyword id="11894211" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="police" source="Orion">police</keyword> didn't communicate with them after they reported the 26-year-old missing in June.</li><li>Kyle's aunt, Rita Thomas, told Insider the lack of communication eroded the family's trust that her disappearance was being properly investigated.</li><li>Police confirmed Thursday that they recovered Kyle's body. No charges have been filed in connection with her <keyword id="6355784" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="death" source="Orion">death</keyword>.</li></ul>The family of <a href="https://www.insider.com/police-find-body-missing-knoxville-tennessee-woman-desheena-kyle-2021-9">Desheena Kyle, a 26-year-old Tennessee woman who went missing</a> in June, joined with community members to search the Knoxville area for weeks before police recovered a body on September 28.Kyle's loved ones felt there'd been a lack of communication from Knoxville police, and it was a "huge factor" in how they perceived the <keyword id="49112" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="investigation" source="Orion">investigation</keyword> into her disappearance, Kyle's aunt, Rita Thomas, told Insider in a series of text messages."I see an urgent need to have someone within the department that will meet with families so that they can share vital information about their loved ones," Thomas said. Thomas shouted out one police captain who she said improved the line of communication between the department and her family. She said that while she understands officers are in a tough situation when providing information about a missing persons case, "caring families shouldn't be pushed so far away from the case that it causes distrust."A spokesman for the Knoxville Police Department said in a statement to Insider that police made a concerted effort to be in "vigorous" communication with Kyle's family. He added that specific officers were designated to be in contact with her loved ones, and that any information police withheld about the investigation was to preserve its integrity."We certainly empathize with the immense pain, grief and confusion the family has experienced the past several months, so we recognize that no amount of communication would feel like enough," spokesman Scott Erland said in the statement. Members of the Knoxville community had also voiced their frustration with the way police have handled Kyle's case. An activist who helped organize searches for Kyle previously <a href="https://www.insider.com/gabby-petito-case-instructive-for-desheena-kyle-search-activist-says-2021-10">told Insider that it felt like police interest in the case picked up</a> only after community members began searching for the missing woman on their own, once the Gabby Petito case had gained widespread national attention.Kyle was first reported missing by her grandmother on June 28, after no one in the family had seen her for at least ten days. On September 23, police began investigating the case <a href="https://knoxvilletn.gov/blog/One.aspx?portalId=16394533&amp;postId=18031544&amp;portletAction=viewpostviewpost">as a potential homicide,</a> based on Kyle's prolonged period of no contact with family or friends along with other evidence. That same day police named Kyle's boyfriend, John Bassett, <a href="https://www.insider.com/police-find-body-missing-knoxville-tennessee-woman-desheena-kyle-2021-9">a person of interest in her disappearance.</a> Bassett had been arrested in July for a probation violation, and police have since held him in custody on unrelated gun and drug charges. On September 28, police found Kyle's body, reportedly at an abandoned home owned by one of Bassett's family members. While Kyle's death had been ruled a <keyword id="12152930" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="homicide" source="Orion">homicide</keyword>, no charges have been filed.According to police records viewed by Insider, <a href="https://www.insider.com/desheena-kyle-boyfriend-once-charged-with-assaulting-her-records-show-2021-10">Bassett was charged with domestic assault against Kyle in 2014</a>. A judge later dismissed that charge. Thomas urged people who think they may be in an abusive relationship and in danger to seek help from a friend or go to law enforcement."Love is not supposed to hurt," Thomas said. "It is kind, gentle and compassionate."

Aunt of Desheena Kyle, the missing Tennessee woman found dead, says a lack of communication from police made her doubt the case was investigated properly

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="12217425" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="desheena-kyle" source="Orion">Desheena Kyle</keyword>'s boyfriend was arrested for domestic assault against her in 2014, according to <keyword id="11894211" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="police" source="Orion">police</keyword> records.</li><li>A judge later dismissed the assault charge, <a href="https://www.wvlt.tv/2021/07/10/missing-desheena-kyles-ex-boyfriend-once-charged-with-domestic-assault/">WVLT reported</a>.</li><li>Police previously told Insider Kyle's boyfriend is a person of interest in the missing <keyword id="11919824" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="tennessee" source="Orion">Tennessee</keyword> woman's death.</li><li>Bassett hit Kyle and smashed her car window while she was inside in the 2014 incident, according to a police report.</li></ul>The boyfriend of <a href="https://www.insider.com/police-find-body-missing-knoxville-tennessee-woman-desheena-kyle-2021-9">Desheena Kyle, who police say is a person of interest</a> in the death of the missing Knoxville, Tennessee, woman, was charged with domestic assault against her in 2014, records reviewed by Insider show.According to a police report, an officer responded on June 27, 2014 to a domestic disturbance call from Kyle. Kyle told police that she and her boyfriend, John Bassett, got into an argument at his residence and that Bassett came up to her from behind when she tried to leave, striking her in the forehead and face.Kyle then left Bassett's residence to get gas, and when she returned to her home encountered Bassett outside the apartment complex, according to the report. She told police that Bassett got out of his vehicle, struck her car window with a rock until the glass broke, and then threw the rock into her car. Kyle also told police that Bassett took her phone from her and smashed it on the ground before fleeing the scene.The officer who wrote the report noted that Kyle had several abrasions on her leg that he believed came from her standing up to get out of the car with broken glass in her lap.A judge later dismissed the domestic assault charge against Bassett in December 2014, <a href="https://www.wvlt.tv/2021/07/10/missing-desheena-kyles-ex-boyfriend-once-charged-with-domestic-assault/">according to WVLT</a>.Bassett had previously been named a person of interest in Kyle's disappearance. A Knoxville Police Department spokesperson told Insider on Thursday that he is also considered a person of interest in the investigation into her death.An attorney for Bassett, who is currently jailed on unrelated probation violation, gun and drug charges, did not immediately return Insider's request for comment on Friday. No charges have been filed in connection with Kyle's death. The Knox County District Attorney's office did not respond to Insider's request for comment.Kyle was first reported missing by her grandmother on June 28. Community members and police <a href="https://www.insider.com/gabby-petito-case-instructive-for-desheena-kyle-search-activist-says-2021-10">searched for the missing 26-year-old for weeks</a> before <a href="https://www.insider.com/police-find-body-missing-knoxville-tennessee-woman-desheena-kyle-2021-9">police recovered her body</a> on Tuesday. The home where police found Kyle's body was abandoned and owned by one of Bassett's relatives, <a href="https://www.wvlt.tv/2021/09/29/discovered-body-north-knox-reveals-more-questions-than-answers-desheena-kyles-case/">WVLT reported.</a>

Desheena Kyle's boyfriend, who's a person of interest in the missing Tennessee woman's death, was charged with assaulting her in 2014

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The body of <keyword id="12217425" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="desheena-kyle" source="Orion">Desheena Kyle</keyword>, a Knoxville, <keyword id="11919824" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="tennessee" source="Orion">Tennessee</keyword>, woman who'd been missing for three months, was identified Thursday.</li><li>An activist who helped lead the search for Kyle told Insider that coverage of the <keyword id="12095996" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="gabby-petito" source="Orion">Gabby Petito</keyword> case initially felt like a "slap in the face."</li><li>But Petito's case also helped the search efforts because it provided an example of how a <keyword id="11894211" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="police" source="Orion">police</keyword> investigation is "supposed to go," the activist said.</li></ul>The outsized national attention Gabby Petito's disappearance drew was both insulting and a blessing for a Knoxville, Tennessee, activist who helped organize the search for <a href="https://www.insider.com/police-find-body-missing-knoxville-tennessee-woman-desheena-kyle-2021-9">Desheena Kyle, a woman who'd been missing for three months</a>."When we saw that happen it was just like, 'well damn,'" Fahd Wali, who leads a community organization called Protect Our People, told Insider. "It was just like a slap in the face really."Kyle's grandmother reported her missing on June 28, and the 26-year-old was last seen at her apartment in Knoxville ten days earlier. Community members came together for weeks to search for Kyle until police recovered her body on Tuesday. The manner of death has been ruled a homicide.Kyle's boyfriend, Joshua Bassett, had been named a person of interest in her disappearance and the Knoxville Police Department told Insider that Bassett is now a person of interest in her death. Bassett is currently in jail facing unrelated probation violation, gun and drug charges, according to police.Wali said Protect Our People, which is meant to stand in the gaps between the Black community in Knoxville and police, organizes children's programs, gun safety training, and employment assistance. So when Kyle went missing this summer, Protect Our People naturally stepped up to lead the search for her.Kyle's family had tried to get the word out about her disappearance for months with little success, so Petito's case initially frustrated them and Wali."We reached out to the TV station and we got some <keyword id="11893589" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="news" source="Orion">news</keyword> coverage on it but you know how it goes," he said. "The light is on for a second, but then they say you know, 'Here comes some more news,' and it's out of the way."News organizations around the country reported on Petito's disappearance, sparking a <a href="https://www.insider.com/experts-missing-women-of-color-are-not-centered-news-coverage-2021-9">national conversation around "Missing White Woman Syndrome."</a> Petito's own father <a href="https://www.insider.com/gabby-petito-dad-missing-person-should-get-same-awareness-2021-9">called for more media coverage of other missing persons cases</a> and implored the public to take an interest in solving them. But Wali said that Petito's disappearance also helped the search for Kyle, because it provided an example of how a police investigation was "supposed to go." In the months after Kyle's disappearance, the community's perception of the Knoxville Police Department's efforts to find her was not good, according to Wali."I just know what we see on national TV," he said. "As far as when somebody goes missing, you put a search party out and the community and the family is notified, and that hadn't happened here."Knoxville police spokesman Scott Erland told Insider the department devoted "hundreds of hours" to the Kyle case before community interest increased. The department spent much of its time searching for Kyle, compiling evidence, and interviewing people for information about the case, he said."All that being said, we understand the community's frustration and recognize that the vast majority of the work that we have done on the case has gone unseen," Erland said.Wali said when he saw how much attention Petito's case was getting, he put out a message on Facebook asking for people to help search for Kyle and got an overwhelming response."It just took off bigger than we expected," Wali said. In his telling, the Knoxville Police Department intensified their search only after the community efforts led by Protect our People ramped up."All we wanted to do was put light on it so they could move on it," Wali said."We hope with this in the future - and God willing it will never happen again - but if anybody in our community goes missing, Black or white, rich or poor, that they'll get out there and do what they're supposed to do," he added.

An activist who helped organize the search for missing Tennessee woman Desheena Kyle said the attention Gabby Petito's case drew was both a blessing and a 'slap in the face'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The body of <keyword id="12217425" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="desheena-kyle" source="Orion">Desheena Kyle</keyword>, who'd been missing for three months, was found on Tuesday.</li><li>The community had been searching for her because it didn't think <keyword id="11894211" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="police" source="Orion">police</keyword> had done enough, WVLT said.</li><li>Police previously named Kyle's boyfriend a person of interest in the case.</li></ul>A 26-year-old Knoxville, Tennessee, woman who'd been missing for three months has been found dead, police confirmed Thursday.<a href="https://knoxvilletn.gov/blog/One.aspx?portalId=16394533&amp;postId=18031544&amp;portletAction=viewpostviewpost">Desheena Kyle's grandmother reported her missing</a> on June 28, and Kyle was last been seen at her apartment on Wilson Road in Knoxville on June 18, according to police.<a href="https://knoxvilletn.gov/blog/One.aspx?portalId=16394533&amp;postId=18046925&amp;portletAction=viewpostviewpost">Officers found a body on Tuesday</a> at a home on Sam Tillery Road that has since been identified as Kyle, police said, and the death was ruled a <keyword id="12152930" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="homicide" source="Orion">homicide</keyword>. Police previously named Kyle's boyfriend, John Bassett, a person of interest in her disappearance. No charges have been filed, but a spokesperson for the Knoxville Police Department told Insider on Thursday that Bassett was also a person of interest in Kyle's death.Bassett was arrested in July on charges related to an outstanding probation-violation warrant and is in custody, police said. <a href="https://www.wvlt.tv/2021/09/24/frustrated-family-community-continues-search-desheena-kyle/">Kyle's family previously told the local news station WVLT</a> that it had become frustrated with local law enforcement over what it perceived to be a lack of effort in investigating her disappearance, which <a href="https://www.wvlt.tv/2021/08/11/police-continue-searching-knoxville-woman-missing-nearly-two-months/">police did not consider a possible homicide</a> until August.Members of Kyle's family and others in the Knoxville community had been searching the city and wooded areas for her for weeks."If it was not for the community of Knoxville helping to look for her and keep her name alive, as well as the <keyword id="11893589" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="news" source="Orion">news</keyword> coverage, we might still be waiting for answers," <a href="https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/crime/2021/09/30/desheena-kyles-body-found-north-knoxville-police-confirm/5916141001/">Kyle's aunt Rita Turner told Knox News</a>. "We could not have done this alone, and now we see how much it makes a difference."

Desheena Kyle, a 26-year-old Tennessee woman who'd been missing for 3 months, has been found dead. Police say her boyfriend is a person of interest in the case.

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Police say the boyfriend of Desheena Kyle, missing Tennessee woman found dead, has been indicted on murder charges

Kenneth Niemeyer

Aunt of Desheena Kyle, the missing Tennessee woman found dead, says a lack of communication from police made her doubt the case was investigated properly

Kenneth Niemeyer

Desheena Kyle's boyfriend, who's a person of interest in the missing Tennessee woman's death, was charged with assaulting her in 2014

Kenneth Niemeyer,Michelle Mark

An activist who helped organize the search for missing Tennessee woman Desheena Kyle said the attention Gabby Petito's case drew was both a blessing and a 'slap in the face'

Kenneth Niemeyer

Desheena Kyle, a 26-year-old Tennessee woman who'd been missing for 3 months, has been found dead. Police say her boyfriend is a person of interest in the case.

Kenneth Niemeyer